Inner Demon
by selana1505
Summary: Spike arrives in Cardiff and joins forces with Torchwood. He has to fight his inner demon which is getting stronger. Contains slash - first Spike/Jack Harkness, in later chapters Spike/John Hart
1. Another Hellmouth?

_****__Flashback__:_

_"__John__?"_

_The __moment __Spike __heard __someone __yelling__, __he __got __run __over __and __hit __the __ground__. __He __turned __his __head __and __looked __into __the __angry __face __of __a __man __he __had __never __seen __before__._

_Before __he __had __a __chance __to __react__, __he __was __punched __in __the __face __again__, __hard__. __Just __to __find __himself __kissed __fiercely __a __moment __later__. __He __decided __not __to __ask __any __questions __and __gave __in __to __the_ _assault __from __the __other __guy__. _

_The __kiss __was __broken __as __suddenly __as __it __had __started__. _

_"__Who __are __you__?" _

_"__Spike__."_

_"__Jack __Harkness__..." _

_Spike __didn__'__t __give __the __other __man __a __chance __to __say __more__, __and __instead __began __to __kiss __him __again__._

_It __was __pretty __obvious __that __the __man__, __Jack__, __had __intended __to __say __something __else__, __perhaps __wanted __to __explain __himself__, __but __Spike __just __wanted __more __kissing__. __Now __it __was __his __turn __to __attack __the __guy__'__s __lips __in __a __heated __kiss__. I__t __didn__'__t __matter __who __this __Jack __Harkness __was __and __why __he __had __hit __first __with __his __fist __and __then __with __his __kiss__, __Spike __just __wanted __this __feeling __to __last __a __while __longer__. __And __Jack __didn__'__t __seem __to __mind__; __they __were __rolling __around __in __the __dark __alley__, __kissing __each __other __senseless__, __teeth __clashing__, __biting__, __the __taste __of __Jack__'__s __blood __exploding __on __Spike__'__s __tongue__, __making __him __deepen __the __kiss __even __more__._

_All __of __a __sudden__, __Jack __broke __the __kiss__, __jumped __to __his __feet __and __started __to __walk __away__. __He __hesitated __a __moment __and __looked __over __his __shoulder__. __Spike __was __still __on __the __ground__, __confused __by __what __had __just __happened__._

_"__I__'__m __sorry__, __but __I __have __to __go__. __There __is __someone __waiting __for __me__," __Jack __said__. __Then __he __turned __around __again __and __left __Spike __alone__. __Spike __needed __a __few __moments __to __come __to __his __senses __and __by __the __time __he __got __up __to __follow __Jack__, __he __was __all __alone__. __The __alleyway __was __empty__._

_****__End __of __Flashback_

Still confused about this encounter, Spike made his way back to his hotel.

Who the bloody hell was this Jack Harkness? This Jack bloke was surprisingly strong and had an air of age beyond his looks, but he was no vampire or demon of any kind. Spike could still taste the blood on his lips and he definitely tasted human. A smirk appeared on his face as he thought about the kiss - whoever this man was, he seemed to like a mix of fighting and sex just as Spike did. That should be reason enough to find him again.

When he reached his hotel, he threw himself on the bed, grabbed the phone from the nightstand and called a number in London.

"Dawn Summers."

"It's me, Spike. Listen pet, I didn't find any signs of a new Hellmouth here in Cardiff yet, but there are some strange things happening. I might need your help."

"Are you alright?" Her voice sounded a bit scared.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." He hesitated for a second. "... just had a strange encounter tonight." Her concern made him smile, it felt good to know that there was at least one person who cared about him.

"What happened?"

"Nothing really, but could you try to find out something about a Jack Harkness? I have no idea who he is, but I've got a feeling that he's got something to do with what's going on here or at least knows about it. Don't know where he's from, but don't think he's British."

"Jack Harkness? I'm sure I've never heard the name before, but I'll see what I can find out about him." Now Dawn sounded curious and determined. Spike just knew that she would do everything she could to help him.

"Ta, I'll call you tomorrow, should give you enough time to find something for me."

"Spike, be careful..."

"Niblet, I can take care of myself..."

"I know, I just want you to come back in one piece."

"I promise, I'll not take any unnecessary risks, pet. Bye, hear ya tomorrow."

"Bye."

Thinking about Dawn made him smile. He had always cared for her, but since the Hellmouth in Sunnydale had been closed they had developed a great friendship. She was the only one who did not ask any questions after he reappeared from L.A.; she just threw herself in his arms to hug him. Ever since then, he had been helping her and the Slayers by checking different cities all over the world, anywhere, if there was too much demon activity. They wanted to make sure that there wasn't another Hellmouth besides the one in Cleveland - which they already guarded. His latest assignment was in Wales , there had been some strange things going on in Cardiff a while back that had been reported to the re-founded Watchers Council.

'_Back__to__work__,'_ he decided, the night was still young - okay, probably not for most humans, but he had at least six more hours before sunrise. He didn't exactly know where to start, but he liked the idea of having a drink or two. That way he could have some fun and chances were good he'd meet someone who might want to tell a tale about 'things that went bump in the night'.

He wandered through the streets, looking for a place to have a drink. He still couldn't stop thinking about his encounter with Jack Harkness, his thoughts kept going back. Spike didn't even know why he had kissed this stranger back, he had never felt the need to kiss a man before. But with this bloke... it just felt like the right thing to do. Unwilling to spend even more of this night with unnecessary pondering, he lit a cigarette and started to look around for a pub.

There were a lot of pubs in the city centre and after he had a look at several places, Spike finally decided to settle in "Dempsey's". It was a cozy looking Irish Pub with lots of dark wood, cream colored walls and a hint of red. It was Saturday, so the place was still crowded even if it was rather late, and there was some live music. It smelled like beer and sweat and pheromones, the light was a bit dim and candles were flickering on the tables.

Spike immediately liked the place and pulled up a stool at the bar. Now if only he'd be allowed to smoke inside, the place would be perfect. He shrugged and ordered a pint - at least they had real beer here, not what passed for it in the US. He looked around for someone to talk to, after all he wasn't here just to have fun. It didn't take him long to find some people who were more than willing to talk about the strange things that had happened a while ago when he bought them a drink - alcohol always was a great way to get people to talk. After about two hours the crowd started to thin out and eventually there was nobody left but a snogging couple in a booth at the back, and Spike. He ordered one last beer before heading back to his hotel.

Along the way he thought about what he had found out - nothing that was really new. The various explosions followed by some "wild animals" on the streets were what had brought him to Cardiff in the first place. To him, the "animals" sounded suspiciously like demons and the descriptions he'd gotten from the locals confirmed this, but he couldn't know for sure until he had seen one for himself.

He decided to call Dawn again during the next day, to investigate about those "Weevils" or whatever the people here called them - funny that they should name a demon after a bug. But then, they were just a different kind of vermin.

Apart from that there had been just one person who could tell him something new, an older man who had talked about something called "Torchwood" – it seemed to be a branch of the police or something like Angel Investigations. He was told that they tended to appear wherever strange things happened around town, and had a black SUV with Torchwood written on it. Spike probably should try to find out more about it.

In his hotel room Spike made sure that all curtains were completely closed and he had hung a "Do not disturb" sign on his door. It wouldn't do him any good to let the sun in and he didn't want to get woken up by room service after he'd just gone to bed. He shrugged his duster off, carelessly dropped it on a chair and sat down on the bed to remove his boots. Then he propped himself up on the headboard, and started to think about what he had or hadn't found out, but his thoughts drifted away...

Once again, he found himself thinking about his encounter with Jack Harkness and wondered why he couldn't forget about him. Usually he was only interested in women, but after more than 100 years the thought of having sex with a man was not completely new to him. It was just that he had never met a bloke until now who interested him enough to give it a try. And then, all of a sudden, there was this complete stranger, kissing him as if there was no tomorrow – and Spike just loved it, couldn't get enough of it. Whether it was a man or a woman hadn't mattered at all, it had just felt right.

Spike closed his eyes, remembered the feeling of those warm, firm lips against his, that hot body pressed to him, those strong hands holding him close, the taste of blood after biting the lower lip of the other...

He dozed off, into an erotic dream of what had happened and what could have followed.

_Meanwhile__, __Torchwood __Hub_

Jack was in deep thought all the way back to the Hub, passed Ianto without even really noticing him and went up to his office. He closed the door and dropped in his chair behind the desk, buried his face in his hands.

Who had this guy been? He looked like John Hart if you ignored the bleached blond hair, but he definitely wasn't, he had felt and tasted so different. Those lips where so cool against his, the hand gripping the back of his head as cold as the lips, the kiss so passionate and full of hunger.

Why on earth had he continued to kiss this stranger, even after he realized it wasn't John? And he Wouldn't have kissed John like this either, Ianto would never be able to accept it. Jack was only sure about one thing right now, he didn't want to lose Ianto, he just meant too much to him.

A knock at the door, Jack sighed and looked up, saw Ianto standing in the doorway. Ianto looked worried, but when he noticed Jack's swollen and bitten lips his features hardened and he had a look of betrayal in his eyes.

"Are you going to tell me what happened, or do I have to guess?" Ianto's voice was quiet and controlled, but his eyes showed the hurt he felt.

So much for not hurting Ianto, this would be difficult. Jack couldn't stand to look into those vulnerable blue eyes, he was afraid of what he might see there, he dropped his gaze to the desk and started with a low voice: "I ran across someone in an alleyway, thought it was John. He looked so like him... I ran into him, part of me wanted to hurt him for everything he has done but another part wanted to kiss him." He dared a quick glance at Ianto, but immediately looked down again. The only thing he could read in Ianto's face was hurt, betrayal, Jack just didn't know how Ianto would react, what he thought. He cleared his throat and continued. "I didn't even think about it, but I first knocked him down, then started to kiss him. As soon as he kissed back it was obvious that it wasn't John, it was someone else I didn't know. I just couldn't stop kissing, it just felt like the right thing to do." Jack slowly looked up, met Ianto's gaze before he continued. "It just felt right until I had to think about you. I don't want to hurt you, never wanted to. That's why I left him and came back here, to you."

Jack kept their eyes locked while he stood up and closed the distance between them. Ianto just looked back at him, not showing any reaction to what he'd just heard. Why was it so hard to read him? Jack had plenty of experience in reading and manipulating people, but Ianto was different, he didn't give anything away. Jack brought his hands up, framed Ianto's face with them. "I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered, before he caught Ianto's lips in a tender kiss. Ianto stiffened for a moment, before he gave in to the kiss and relaxed in Jack's arms.

_Spike__'__s __hotel __room_

The persistent ring of the phone, woke Spike from a dream about hot lips pressed against his cool ones, a hot body lying on top of him. Still a bit disoriented, he reached for the nightstand and picked up the phone.

"What's up?" he asked sleepily.

"Sorry to wake you up, but I got some news for you." Dawn sounded tired herself.

"'s okay, pet, just give me a second and I'm with you." Spike put the receiver down for a moment, stretched to remove the kinks from sleeping in an uncomfortable position and sat down cross legged in the middle of the bed. That felt much better. He picked the phone up again.

"I really hope you got more information than I've got here. I spent all evening talking to people and heard almost nothing new."

Dawn quickly filled him in on what she found out about Jack Harkness, even if it wasn't much. Obviously he had been around for quite a while, longer than possible for a human without aging, she had found pictures of him from now and from several decades ago and he still looked the same. And he seemed to be connected to this mystery organization called "Torchwood", but Dawn didn't know anything more about it than Spike.

"Oh, could you have a look into something else?" Spike asked. "I've heard about some demon-like creatures that have been spotted several times, they are called 'Weevils' or something like that. Couldn't understand that bloke too clearly, he might've had a few too many."

"Like that never happens to you, Spike," Dawn gave back, he could hear her grin.

He decided to ignore her teasing, he was too tired, and just continued to describe the demons, or whatever they were. She promised to look into it, compare his descriptions to the database and let some of the Slayers do research in the huge amount of books that hadn't been added to the database yet.

"Oh, Spike, I almost forgot. There's a netbook computer on the way to you. That way I'll be able to send you information via email and you will have access to our database. Perhaps do a bit of research yourself. And hopefully, I'll be able to get a bit more sleep." She yawned.

Spike sighed, as he thought about researching.

Dawn giggled, she had obviously heard his sigh and knew him well enough to know that he hated research. "I'm sure you will survive it."

"Whatever you say, but I don't have to like this bloody boring research stuff."

He could still hear her smile when they said good bye and ended the call.

Spike didn't even have time to warm himself a mug of blood before his phone rang again. With an annoyed look, he put the mug back on the table and answered the phone. It was the hotel receptionist, telling him that there was a package waiting for him in the lobby. Must be that stupid piece of technology Dawn had sent, did it have to arrive that fast? Despite his bad mood he thanked the receptionist, it wasn't her fault after all. The he finally warmed his blood on the hotplate, drank it slowly - anything to stall for another few moments, he really didn't want to do any research - and then made his way downstairs to retrieve the parcel. As he had feared, it was from Dawn.

He muttered something under his breath about "bloody technology" and "hate that effin' research" when he climbed the stairs back to his room.

He unpacked, the parcel held a small netbook and a messenger bag to carry it in. Obviously Dawn had bought the bag, it was black leather, Spike immediately liked it. Other than that he found a power cord and something that looked like an USB drive. After he had spread it all out on the small table, he tried to ignore the innocent looking, silver computer. He kicked his boots off again, threw himself on the bed, rolled onto his stomach and grabbed the remote control for the TV on the far side the room.

Half an hour later, he was already tired of day time TV. It seemed to be the same crap all over the world. He sighed, switched the TV off and glanced at the table. Of course the netbook was still there and he had to admit that he was too curious to just ignore it, he had learned a bit about computers from Dawn and Willow and he knew there was a lot he could do with it. Still, research was research, no matter if you used books or a computer - it was boring. With another sigh he got up and took a seat in front of the computer. The wooden chair was as uncomfortable as it looked. The instant the computer had started a message popped up, it was a picture of Dawn and the text said: "Don't forget to plug the computer in, or you'll run out of battery."

"I'm not stupid, would've remembered myself." he grumbled, but he looked at the picture with affection. He'd always had a soft spot for Dawn.

He growled at the computer, grabbed the power cord and plugged it in. He had to search for the right port on the computer for a while, but refused to look at the manual. Meanwhile, the message had faded away and there were some instructions on how to use the email program and how to access and use the Watcher's database.

The USB drive turned out to be a Wifi stick that he could use whenever there was no free Wifi around - but he was lucky, he wouldn't need it at his hotel. By the time he had read through all of that, Spike was about ready to smash the computer into the nearest wall.

With another growl towards the unimpressed netbook, he started to search the database. The search for Weevils didn't bring any results, so he decided to look for Jack Harkness and Torchwood instead. It took him a while, but eventually he came across some pictures of a black SUV with the inscription TORCHWOOD in huge letters. The car seemed to have appeared several times near to sightings of strange creatures that could very well be demons.

One of those pictures showed Jack Harkness and an Asian looking woman in the car, another one had obviously been taken when Jack was just leaving the car. In this last picture, Spike could clearly see that Jack was armed with a gun.

By that time, Spike was so fascinated by all the possibilities the computer gave him that he spent all afternoon searching for more pictures and tried to identify the people he saw near Jack. When he finally turned the computer off it was already starting to get dark outside, but he had some names to go with the faces.

He had jotted down some street names where the SUV had repeatedly appeared in the photos - most of them taken by traffic CCTV cameras. After another mug of blood Spike put on his boots and duster, grabbed the paper with the street names and left. In the hotel lobby he helped himself to a map of Cardiff, quickly found the streets he was looking for and started to search for the SUV in that area.

Only a short while later he came to the end of a dark alleyway and saw the car he was looking for drive past the road. Immediately he climbed the roof of the nearest building and followed the black car by jumping from roof to roof. About 15 minutes later, the SUV came to a halt in front of a large department store.

It seemed to be a crime scene, lots of police there, but as soon as Torchwood arrived the police left them alone to do whatever it was they did. Spike watched curiously and tried to listen into what they were talking about. There was a man lying on the ground, obviously dead, he had a large wound on his neck and another one in his chest. He had lost huge amounts of blood, the vampire could still smell it six floors above the ground. Spike saw Jack, a dark haired woman - Gwen according to his research - and a young man called Ianto search the place for evidence and examine at the body.

He was several storeys above ground, so even with his improved hearing he could make out part of their conversation. He heard "must've been a Weevil," and "seems to be gone for now" then he saw Gwen look up to him. It might be a good idea to move to another place, and move fast, he didn't want to get caught spying on them. He decided to hide on another building, still in sight of the SUV so he could follow them when they left.

_On __the __crime __scene_

Jack followed Gwen's view and had the impression of a platinum blond head disappearing on the roof. Immediately he started to make his way to the top of the building, he didn't like the thought that they might be watched.

"I'm just checking something, I'll be right back." He shouted over his shoulder towards Ianto and Gwen. Ianto gave him a puzzled look, but Gwen told him in a hushed voice that it was possible that they had been watched by someone on the roof. They continued their work, to distract anyone who might be spying on them from Jack's approach.

As Jack reached the roof, there was no sign of anyone. He could have sworn he had seen the guy he'd run into the night before, Spike or whatever his name was, there weren't many people around with this distinctive bleached blond hair. But no, the roof seemed to be empty. He checked all corners and possible hide-outs for hints that someone had been up here, he was sure he hadn't imagined things. Near the place where he'd gotten a glimpse of blond hair, he found a still warm cigarette butt on the ground. Jack looked around again, a bit confused, and tried to find a possible way for the other man to have left the roof without being noticed. There was only one set of fire ladders, the ones he had used on his way up, and the door that led to the staircase was covered in so much dirt that it was impossible to open it without leaving any traces. There were no signs at all on this door that it had been touched lately.

Jack was still puzzled but he was sure that he was alone on the roof. He started to climb down again and didn't notice that someone was watching him from the roof of a nearby building.

_Another __roof __close __by_

Spike had just had enough time to hide himself on the building next to the department store when he saw Jack appear on the roof, obviously looking for him. With a smile he watched the other man searching every corner and he had to keep from laughing about the confused look on the other's face. Who would think about someone jumping to another roof with buildings that far apart when they had never met a vampire? It was still amusing to watch.

A short while later Torchwood had finished their work on the crime scene, they got into the waiting car and drove away at full speed.

Spike had quite some difficulty following them, he nearly lost them more than once when they were leaving the city center and the buildings were too far apart for him clear the gap.

His vampire speed helped, but still he barely managed to follow them to Cardiff Bay. They took quite a lot of turns he didn't expect. At some point near the Millennium Centre he finally had to give up because the SUV was nowhere to be seen.

"Bloody hell! This just started to get interesting, now it's turning into a bloody game of hide and seek!" Spike smashed his fist into the nearest wall with an angry cry.

Then his anger was gone again and he decided to have a look around, perhaps he'd still be able to find some clues about Torchwood or Jack even if the car was gone. This stupidly huge car couldn't have just vanished, it had only gone around a corner and when Spike arrived, it was nowhere to been seen. There must be something he had overlooked, a hidden entry to a parking garage or something like that.

There were a few impressive looking buildings here, including a water tower on the Plass and a building with a huge inscription on the outside in Welsh and English, but no sign of Jack Harkness or any other Torchwood member. Spike walked down to the water and saw a small Tourist Office, decided to glance into the windows. He didn't really expect to see anyone there at this time of night, but he had a feeling that made him check it out anyway. And if he had learned one thing in his long unlife, it was to trust his feelings. To his surprise, he saw Ianto behind the desk, he had come through a door in the back of the building. Without a second thought Spike rushed into the office, almost breaking the door off its hinges, that earned him a shocked look from a pair of big blue eyes.

"John?"

"I don't bloody know who this John is, but I want to see Jack Harkness NOW!" Spike literally threw himself at Ianto, grabbed his tie and shouted the last word right into his still shocked looking face.

Then everything seemed to happen at once. Spike heard the click of a gun from behind, turned around and grabbed the pistol out of Jack's hand faster than Jack could pull the trigger. With a disapproving look at the gun, he threw it out the still open front door and a mad grin appeared on his face.

A second later, Jack and Spike were fighting, hitting and kicking at each other, Spike was still grinning like a madman. He really enjoyed this and tried to hold back a bit, he didn't want the fight to end too soon. They exchanged kicks and blows and at some point Spike headbutted Jack, it's been ages since he'd had that much fun in a fight. It felt good not to think, just to react, to fight - still he held back, kept his demon in check as he didn't want to kill Jack. This was too good, he wanted to feel this excited for a bit longer, to enjoy the adrenaline rushing through his body and to revel in the waves of excitement he breathed in from Jack.

After a while, he didn't know how long this had gone on for, he found himself on the floor, arms and legs entangled with a heavily breathing Jack. Spike's lower lip was bleeding, as was Jack's eyebrow, but the vampire felt strangely content. They looked at each other and both started to laugh at the same time, Spike didn't even know why he was laughing, but it felt too good not to.

"I don't know who you are, but fighting you is almost as much fun as fighting John." Jack detangled their legs, got up, grinned at Spike and held out a hand to help him up. Spike gripped his arm and let Jack haul him to his feet. They ended up in front of each other, just a few centimeters apart, none of them releasing the hold of the other's forearm. Neither of them seemed to be able to look away, the distance between them was slowly melting apart.

"Jack..." Both turned their heads to Ianto, they both seemed to have forgotten that he was still there. The young man was standing in front of them, glaring at both. If looks could kill, they'd both drop dead right there and then - even Spike and he was dead already!

"Would anyone mind to tell me what's going on here?" Ianto asked with an innocent tone in his voice, he raised one eyebrow in question.

Jack stepped back a bit from Spike, gave them both a wide smile.

"I don't know exactly, but why don't we go somewhere more private to discuss this? I'd really like to know who you are." As he said this he looked back at Spike again.

The vampire glanced at the still open front door and then looked around the Tourist Office. He decided to bluff a bit, check their reactions to what he knew about them.

"Why do I doubt that this is the Torchwood headquarters? So, where's your bat cave hidden?"

Jack and Ianto shared a surprised look, then Jack simply shrugged and pointed to the door that led down to the Hub.

"Down here," he said and lead the way without even looking back once. Spike hesitated a moment before he followed Jack. He could hear Ianto leave the Tourist office, go to the front door, then come back and close the it behind him. Oh yes, the gun he had thrown outside, Spike guessed that Ianto had just picked it up before he'd followed them.

As they arrived at the Hub, Spike was pretty impressed by the large room and all the computer terminals, this really looked like the headquarters of a secret organisation. He tried not to show his surprise when Jack gave him a questioning look over his shoulder.

"Jack, here's your gun," came Ianto's voice from behind. So he had been right, Ianto had picked it up. "And we need to check him for weapons," Ianto continued calmly after he had handed the Webley to Jack.

"Sure," Jack answered, he turned to Spike, "you need to hand your weapons to Ianto, can't allow you to wear them down here."

Spike just gave him a wide grin, "No weapons here, at least none that I can hand over."

Ianto didn't seem to believe him and picked up a small electronic device which was obviously scanning him for weapons. When he didn't find anything, Ianto's eyes widened in surprise for a second before he had himself under control again. "Okay, you're clean," he said and motioned Spike to follow Jack to the conference room.

Spike took his time, he looked at everything that caught his attention. And there were a lot of interesting things down here, as he had to admit. Jack was already waiting for him, he sat on a chair behind the conference table. Spike didn't wait for an invitation but grabbed the nearest chair and lounged into it. He smirked at Jack and said, "If you want me to tell you who I am, I want to know a few things too. Seems like you've got a few secrets of your own."

"Sounds like a fair deal, but let's wait for Ianto. He will be here in a minute with some coffee."

Jack had barely finished his sentence when Ianto entered the room, he carried a tray with three steaming mugs. Spike rarely drank coffee, but he had to admit that this smelled wonderful so he decided to take the mug that was handed to him. He gave Ianto a nod, inhaled the scent of the coffee before taking a sip. To his surprise, he really liked it and took another sip.

"So, you want to know who I am," he started and looked from one man to the other. Jack simply leaned back in his chair and gave him an expectant look. Ianto slowly sat down on the table near Jack and shifted so he could look at Spike too. When none of them said a word, he made the decision to tell them the weirdest part first.

"Well, you probably won't believe me, but I'm more than 100 years old." He paused, waited for their reaction. To his surprise, Jack and Ianto started to grin.

"Why shouldn't we believe this?" they said simultaneously and shared a knowing look.

Spike merely raised an eyebrow, he had no idea what was so funny about this. But he ignored them and continued, "And I'm a vampire." He could see that they didn't believe him now and allowed his demon to show on the surface. As was to be expected they both looked shocked and reached for their weapons but Spike didn't even flinch when two guns were pointed at his head.

"If I wanted to kill you, you wouldn't be sitting here any more. And your guns might hurt me but they can't kill me. If you want to hear the rest of my story, put them away or I will just leave," he said calmly before he showed his human face again. His blue eyes caught Jack's until the other man nodded once and put his Webley on the table. Ianto lowered his gun too but seemed still unwilling to put it away completely.

"That will do for now," Spike said and continued with his story. Of course he didn't tell them everything, left out the parts where he had been evil, but he explained about demons, vampires, the Slayers and the re-founded Watcher's Council.

"And that's why I'm here in Cardiff, we heard about the explosions and sightings of strange creatures lately. Then the Council decided to send someone from London to Cardiff, to explore if there is another bloody Hellmouth here and to find out if we need to send some Slayers. I volunteered, didn't have anything else to do and just can't stand having all those slayerettes around. Most of them still secretly want to kill me because I'm a vamp," Spike stopped for a moment, he looked directly at Jack now, "and then I ran into you, on my first night in Cardiff."

When Spike had finished, both Jack and Ianto seemed a bit overwhelmed by all this information. He decided to give them some time to take everything in and reached for his mug. But the coffee was long cold by now, so he placed it back on the table without drinking.

"Just to make sure I get this right, you are a demon fighting with a secret organisation against demons?" Jack asked calmly.

"That's it in a nutshell," Spike responded. He was astonished by the lack of disbelief in Jack's and Ianto's gaze. "And you believe me? Don't think I'm crazy or something?"

"Why should we?" both men asked at the same time. They shared a knowing smile before Jack talked to Spike again. "You looked a lot like a vampire when you changed earlier and we've seen our share of strange things, there is not much on this world or others we won't believe."

"Other worlds?" Spike raised an eyebrow. "I think it is your time to tell a tale now."

"Just give me a minute to make some more coffee," Ianto said with a disapproving look to the still almost full mugs of cold coffee. But before he could get up Jack stopped him.

"I think we need something stronger than coffee now, I'll be right back." Jack gave Ianto a quick kiss before he left the conference room. When he came back, he carried a bottle of Scotch and three glasses. He poured a generous amount into each of them and handed one to Spike. As their fingers touched they both felt a shiver run through them and their gazes locked once again. Spike quickly broke the eye contact and downed half of his drink in one big gulp. When he dared to look up again, Jack was sitting on his chair, one hand resting on Ianto's thigh.

Spike tilted his head and looked directly at Ianto, he didn't want to look at Jack right now, "So what about those other worlds then? Thought there wasn't much that could still surprise me, but you just did."

Jack and Ianto took turns to explain about the Rift being a hole in time and space, aliens coming through, time shifts and other things they had dealt with; finally they told him about Torchwood and that it was their job to make sure that people in and around Cardiff stayed safe and blissfully unaware of what was really going on.

"To make it short, where you hunt demons we hunt aliens. And we work for the government, so we get called by the police if something happens they can't easily explain - or we hack into their reports and just show up and take over a crime scene if anything suggests it's a case for us," Jack finished his story.

"So we do the same, protect people from evil things they wouldn't even understand," Spike said with a smirk. "But now to the part that's really interesting me right now, who is this John? Both you and Ianto seemed to confuse us."

Ianto obviously felt uncomfortable now, he got up from his place at the table and stood behind Jack's chair. He rested a hand on Jack's shoulder and said, "I don't want to talk about him. I'll leave that to you, Jack."

Spike wondered why the younger man looked so vulnerable all of a sudden, he had seemed so calm and collected earlier. Before he'd mentioned this John, whoever the hell that was, he had the impression that Ianto was a strong person, but now he looked even younger then before and seemed to need protection - though Spike couldn't imagine what he might want to be protected from.

"We don't have to talk about him, if you don't want to," Jack said and cupped Ianto's hand with his. Then he focused on Spike again and continued, "Let's just say he is an old acquaintance of mine – and as you might have guessed, we were lovers a long time ago. It is at least partially his fault that our team is now reduced to just three members."

"What happened?" Spike asked, but Jack shook his head.

"Enough storytelling for today, I really don't want to talk about it right now."

They all drank the rest of their Scotch in silence before Spike spoke again. When he'd heard that they had lost some team members he had an idea - he might be able to stay here, could probably be more useful for them than for the Watchers. "You don't happen to need someone here? Someone really fast, who knows how to handle himself in a fight and is hard to kill?" He gave them his most innocent smile.

Ianto looked Spike up and down, then turned to Jack. "I still don't know if I like him or if I even trust him as far as I could throw him, but he is right – we need some new team members." He hesitated as if he didn't really want to say what came next, but then he continued anyway. "I don't particularly want _him_ to stay here but where else are we going to find someone willing to work for Torchwood, work for you?"

Jack hesitated for a moment, pondered his options, then asked, "Why do you want to stay here? I thought you were working for those Watchers."

"I'm bloody useless there, no need for more muscles when you have thousands of Slayers instead of just one. And I'm really not the man for boring research stuff, all those books in ancient or demonic languages make me sick. I need some more action – or I wouldn't have volunteered to come here." Spike seemed to be really annoyed by the thought of being useless.

"Oh, I'm sure you can find more than enough action here," Jack said with a suggestive smile. He stood up and shook Spike's hand, "Welcome to Team Torchwood – at least for now. We will see if you fit in." Spike felt like he was naked under the hot gaze that Jack let travel over him. He licked his lips nervously as Jack moved even closer. A part of him wanted to pull Jack onto his lap to snog him senseless, yet another part of him felt uncomfortable and wanted to run away. Before he could decide what to do, Ianto's voice broke the spell.

"Can I have a word with you, sir? Alone?" Ianto tried to appear calm, but was not really able to hide the jealousy in his eyes.

Spike raised an eyebrow at the sudden formal tone of Ianto's voice, and why did he suddenly address Jack as 'Sir'? That didn't really fit with what he had seen and heard before. He should better go now, he felt like an intruder. Without hesitating a moment longer, he got up from his chair. "I'll leave you two alone, I'm sure I can find the way out on my own."

"You don't have to go, just wait outside for a minute, if you don't mind." Ianto surprised him once again.

Spike had been sure that Ianto wanted him to leave completely, stay away from Jack. He shrugged and and left the room, closed the door on the way out. It would at least give them the feeling of privacy since he hadn't told them all about his enhanced senses yet. Should he really stay? Or leave them now before he could hear that he wasn't wanted here?

He leaned against the wall to think about it, but then he heard Jack's voice through the door. "Ianto, if you want me to send him away, just say so." Spike's curiosity won over his fear of rejection and he stayed where he was - the closed door and their lowered voices didn't do anything to keep him from hearing every word they said.

_In __the __conference __room_

"Ianto, if you want me to send him away, just say so..." Before Jack could say anything else, Ianto shushed him with a finger on his lips.

"Just listen for now, before I can think too much about this," Ianto hesitated for a moment, then removed his finger from Jack's lips and looked him directly in the eyes. "I know you don't want to hurt me, don't want to lose me." Ianto looked as if he didn't want to say this, didn't know how to say it. "But I know just as well that I'll never have you all for myself, you won't stop flirting." He paused again, smiled in a way that Jack couldn't quite read. "You wouldn't be you any more if you stopped being interested in other people." Jack really didn't know where Ianto was going with this. Could he dare to hope that Ianto understood? He shook the thoughts off and concentrated again on what Ianto was saying. "So I won't ask you to do that for me, I don't think it would be fair on either of us. I just want you to promise me one thing…" Ianto's voice trailed off and he nervously licked his lips. "In fact I need you to promise me two things: never try to hide anything or anyone from me – I would know anyway, you're a terrible liar sometimes." Another smile, more affectionate and teasing this time. "And make sure you come back to me."

Jack pulled Ianto into a hug, this really wasn't what he had expected to hear. "Always, at least as long as you want me to," he whispered in Ianto's ear. "You mean way too much to me, I don't want to lose you." Jack took a small step back and gave Ianto a smile that clearly showed his feelings for the younger man. Ianto never stopped amazing him. He was so young, a child of the 20th century, and yet he had no problems coping with aliens, time travel, an immortal lover, 51st century attitudes to life or whatever else working for Torchwood involved. He didn't even flinch when a vampire who looked like Jack's ex-lover showed up on their doorstep. "And if you want to know about it, I will never do anything behind your back." He cupped Ianto's face with his hands and captured his lips in a soft and loving kiss. "It's much more fun that way." Jack grinned when Ianto glared at him. "Just let me know when I tell you more than you want to hear." Another kiss that seemed to go on forever.

"Then I'll leave you two alone," Ianto said with a mocking smile, when they finally broke the kiss. "I think I'd better go and warn Gwen, I don't want any more of this John and Spike confusion tomorrow, had more than enough of it today." With those words Ianto turned to the door, ready to leave the Hub.

_Corridor_

When Spike heard footsteps coming closer he quickly leaned into the wall again - while he listened in on them he had inadvertently moved forward and turned towards the door. He even managed to put a blank look on despite his racing thoughts. With his hands in his pockets and his head resting on the wall he seemed totally bored and unaware of what had happened in the conference room. But inside he was in an uproar, as he knew all too well why Ianto left them alone.

Spike still wasn't sure whether he wanted to give in to the strange attraction he felt for Jack or not. He had always, always just been attracted to women, and now he couldn't understand why he suddenly felt the urge to kiss a man. That one time with Angel... no, that didn't really count, did it? They'd both been high on adrenaline, had just... Neither of them had wanted to repeat it, had mentioned it ever again. No, it really didn't count. This however was different, he was aware of what he was getting into, it wasn't something that just happened, that he could write off later. No, this would be something he decided to do. He was so deep in his thoughts that he barely registered when Ianto walked past him.

"See you tomorrow," Ianto's voice startled him. Spike opened his eyes and found himself just one step away from Ianto. He was surprised that he couldn't see the least bit of jealousy or animosity in Ianto's face.

"Yeah, see you," he managed to say with a smile that felt fake even to himself. His eyes followed Ianto until he was out of sight. Spike considered leaving as well, he didn't really feel up to being alone with Jack, he still didn't know what he wanted to do, if he should give in to the attraction or not. He wasn't even sure _why_ he was that attracted to the man. 'Right, as if he could force me to do anything I don't want to.' He shook his head and had to laugh about himself, he'd never before allowed his fear to control him and what exactly was he afraid of?

"What's so funny?" he heard Jack's voice from behind and slowly turned. Jack leaned against the door frame and gave him a wide smile.

"Nothing," Spike said, "it's just been a bloody strange day." He slowly walked towards Jack, hands still in his pockets.

He had planned to walk past Jack, back into the conference room, but he was stopped by Jack's arm that blocked the doorway. They were just centimetres apart, Spike could feel the heat radiating from Jack's body, could hear his heart beat, could smell him - he smelled so good. There it was again, the urge to just touch and kiss the man in front of him. Spike's demon wanted to grab Jack, kiss him, fuck him, drain him - any or all of them. Spike tried to fight it, to control the demon and stayed where he was, so close to the tempting scent. He took another breath, there was something new, exciting about this man, something he hadn't come across before. Whatever it was, it appealed both to the man and to the demon in him. Spike didn't want to move away, but he couldn't bring himself to break the distance between them, afraid he'd lose control, confused by his own strong reaction to being this close to Jack.

Their gazes locked and Spike felt like he was frozen to the spot when Jack slowly moved in to capture his lips in a gentle kiss - then he stopped thinking, just kissed back. Jack came even closer, pressed his body to Spike's. One hand made its way slowly up Spike's back and finally came to a halt right above the collar of his duster on his neck; the other hand moved under Spike's coat and held him around the waist.

Their kiss got more passionate and Spike's hands started to travel along Jack's back as well. It felt so good to have this hot body pressed against him, to feel Jack's growing erection rub against his own. Spike rapidly lost control, his senses overwhelmed by the feeling of hot, oh so hot, body that close, Jack's unique scent combined with the one of their arousal, the sound of a rapid but strong heart beat, the fascinating taste of Scotch and what was just Jack. It was all too much, he couldn't keep his demon in check any more . His eyes flashed golden for a moment, but he fought it back, didn't want to lose control completely. He wasn't quite successful at first, his eyes kept changing between blue and gold. Thinking got different.

Driven mostly by his instincts now, Spike shoved Jack to the wall and kissed him almost forcefully. Jack was shocked for a moment by the sudden assault, then he moaned into the kiss and duelled Spike's tongue in a fight for dominance. Spike had to break the kiss to get back a bit of control; he didn't want his demon to take over completely. But all his doubts were gone, he had stopped to think about what was happening, he just wanted to feel and to taste more of Jack. Once again, he brought their lips together in an almost brutal kiss while his hands impatiently tried to unbutton Jack's shirt.

Spike felt the duster slide from his shoulders and stopped his attempts to open Jack's shirt long enough to shrug out of it. Their kiss never stopped, it even got more passionate when Jack moved his hands under Spike's tee and started to stroke his back. Their bodies were pressed against each other, Spike felt Jack's groin rubbing at his hip.

Breathless, Jack broke the kiss. His voice was thick with desire when he said, "Want to feel more of you." Even before he had finished the sentence, he began to strip Spike. When his shirt was gone, Spike could practically feel Jack's hot gaze travel over his naked chest and down to the hint of hair visible right above the waistband of his jeans. As fast as possible, he got rid of his boots and socks while Jack undressed too.

Spike took another deep breath to smell Jack's arousal – that scent and the sight of an almost naked Jack who was just wearing his boxers now were enough to drive Spike almost crazy with lust. He wanted to feel this hot body against his cool skin and pulled Jack close. Their bodies met, hands were exploring each other. Desperate to feel more, Spike quickly opened his jeans and let them slide down. Now they were only separated by the thin fabric of Jack's boxers and Spike moaned as their groins met for the first time.

It felt so good, hot hands roamed over his cool body, an equally hot mouth and tongue nipped and licked at his neck, teeth scraped his skin. Not quite a bite, but close enough. Spike let himself get lost in the pleasure for a while, head tilted to one side to give Jack better access to his neck. He didn't even notice that Jack had manoeuvred them backwards until his thighs hit the edge of the conference table.

Spike had to hold on to the table when Jack's lips travelled down his chest, it had been way too long since he'd had more than just a quick shag. Nothing wrong with that, but this was so much better, it felt good to be touched and kissed. Jack licked a line down from his collarbone, followed the curve of his muscles. Soft kisses and little licks were trailed over his chest. First, soft lips closed around his nipple, then an almost painful bite made Spike moan and arch into Jack's touch.

He could feel Jack grin, then his tongue, hot, wet, another bite. His demon pushed forward again, Spike had stopped to fight it for control, for once they seemed to want the same - more of this, more pleasure, more pain, sex. Jack's bites and licks and kisses travelled lower, over Spike's stomach, to the bit of tender skin where thigh meets hip, to the inside of his thighs. Spike spread his legs to give Jack better access and heard a low chuckle, then this hot, talented mouth moved up again. Spike just needed to look down, he had to see that it all was real and not just another dream like earlier that day. He forced his eyes open and met Jack's gaze just as Jack's lips closed around the tip of his cock.

Jack's hands were on Spike's hips, held him still, as he slowly slid down, swallowed. The sensation was almost too much, Spike had to fight not to come right there and then. The demon pushed forward again, showed on his face for a second before Spike could get back a bit of control. Jack had stopped, looked up at him but he didn't seem to be the slightest bit afraid.

Spike needed some control over the situation, hoped it might help him control the demon - he couldn't stop this any more, didn't want to, but he didn't want to harm Jack. He grabbed Jack's shoulders to pull him up and turned them around with a swift motion. He pulled down Jack's boxers and pushed Jack's legs apart, rubbed their erections against each other. "Want to fuck you now," he growled in Jack's ear.

Jack shivered as he heard the almost predatory sound and mumbled, "lube 's in m' coat." Part of Spike didn't want to lose contact with this hot body, wanted to fuck him, hurt him, but he managed to step away and rummaged through Jack's coat as fast as he could. Pen, strange metal object, something that looked a bit like a pocket knife, Spike hastily emptied the pocket. Why did people have to carry everything in their pockets? He grumbled while he discarded what felt like a gazillion items, then he finally found what he was looking for.

The second his fingers closed around the lube he moved back to Jack, startled him a bit with his speed. But still, no scent of fear, just arousal. Jack just gave him a curious look, then pulled him close again. Spike lifted Jack with one arm on the table; his free hand opened the lube. Without wasting any more time, Spike slickened two of his fingers and pressed them inside. His demon wanted more, now, didn't want to wait, didn't care if he hurt the other man, but part of Spike managed to hold it back.

His still golden eyes met Jack's, looked for any signs of discomfort as he slid both fingers in. Jack held his gaze, his breath quickened as Spike began to move his fingers in and out. He moved with Spike now, pushed himself deeper on Spike's fingers. Jack's eyes closed in pleasure, an impatient sound escaped his lips. The sight of Jack writhing in pleasure combined with the scent of his arousal made Spike almost lose the last bit of control.

He quickly removed his fingers and replaced them with his cock. Tight heat surrounded him, another wave of arousal assaulted his senses, his control slipped even more. His face changed, the demon gained more control, and he thrust almost violently into Jack's willing body. Jack's legs closed around Spike's hips, his hands were searching for something to hold on to. Spike could see a drop of moisture at the tip of Jack's erection, could see a vein in his neck throb, could hear his moans, his heart beating faster and faster, could feel that Jack started to tremble around him.

It didn't take long until he was right on the edge of orgasm, the demon almost fully in control now. With a hiss he pulled Jack closer, put his lips - no, his fangs - right over that throbbing vein in Jack's neck, wanted to bite, drink, kill. He could smell fear now, still mixed with arousal, Jack didn't try to fight him off, but he was afraid. The acrid scent of fear, so sweet for his demon, somehow kicked part of his brain back into gear. It was just enough to stop himself from biting. He threw his head back with a feral cry. That was all he could do, his body kept moving, driven by lust, part of him knew he was hurting Jack, would leave bruises where his fingers were digging in with a bit too much force, but he didn't care - and Jack didn't seem to mind either. They both came almost at the same time.

Spike collapsed on top of Jack, his face changed back to human. For a few moments they just stayed like this, Spike's head on Jack's heaving chest, Jack's legs still around his hips, a warm hand resting on his shoulder. Then Spike realised what he had almost done – he had barely stopped himself from biting Jack, from killing him. He had to get away from Jack, now, pushed himself up and stepped back, way too fast, almost stumbled over Jack's boots because he didn't pay attention to his surroundings. He stood there, didn't know what to say, what to do. After a moment of awkward silence Jack asked, "What's wrong?"

Spike grit his teeth, he really didn't want to discuss this with an almost stranger - even if they had just shagged. "Nothin' 's wrong. Just need to go back to my place and pick some things up before sunrise." He couldn't look Jack into the eye while he answered him, but he busied himself with picking up his clothes instead. "Guess I'd better be here during the day to meet the rest of your team."

"We could take the SUV," Jack suggested.

"I'm probably faster alone, just make sure the Tourist Office is not locked or you might find nothing but a pile of dust in front of it." Spike had to be alone now, had to get back some control - and needed time to decide if he really should come back or not. Could he afford to come back to work with them after what had just happened? Jack didn't seem to be aware of just how close to death he had just been. Spike let himself fall onto the nearest chair to put his boots on. He could feel Jack's questioning gaze, but didn't look up until he was finished with the boots. Then he stood, grabbed his duster and turned to the door. He glanced back over his shoulder.

"I'll be back in about two hours." With those words he shrugged into his duster and left the Hub without giving Jack a chance to answer.

Spike was well aware that there must be cameras in the Tourist Office and on the Plass, so he walked away slowly until he was around the first corner. Then he started to run as fast as he could, back to the hotel. His head swam, he didn't know what to think about the recent happenings. First of all, he just had shagged a bloke for the first time in his life or un-life. But that was not what was really bothering him. Panic filled him when he thought about the fact that he almost had killed Jack – that he almost had not been able to stop himself from drinking human blood. It was not that he didn't crave it each and every day since the chip had stopped him from getting it. But never after he got his soul back – no, even before – had he lost control so completely.

What the hell was going on? Could it be that his demon was getting stronger? He would have to be careful, he couldn't afford to lose it, didn't want to be responsible for yet another death. Spike wasn't like Angel, didn't want to be forgiven for what he had done in his past - he had been controlled by a demon, hadn't had a soul. He had just done what his nature had demanded of him. But now was different, he tried to do the right thing. A soul didn't make a good man, but he had been one before he got turned, he could be again. Still, it felt so good to fight, violence fed his demon, made it content. It's been way too long that he'd had a decent fight, too many Slayers meant that there wasn't much work for him to do any more.

By the time he reached the hotel, his mind was still spinning, but Spike tried to calm himself and entered slowly, there was no need to frighten the receptionist. He even managed a smile when he walked past the young man on duty.

Back in his room a quick glance at the clock on the nightstand told him that he still had one and a half hours left. So he decided to take a quick shower, he could still smell Jack on himself, on his clothes, he wanted to get rid of it. Maybe that would calm him down a bit. The hot water felt wonderful, some of the tension in his body left again, even if his thoughts kept running in circles. When he was done with his shower, he dressed in a new pair of black jeans, a black wife beater and a red shirt that he left unbuttoned.

He knew that he was stalling, didn't want to go back yet - he wasn't even sure if he should go back or just vanish from Cardiff. But he might find a place where he was useful - at least at night - he should give it a chance. There was no future for him with the Watchers and Slayers, at least not one he really wanted. Did he want a future here? With Torchwood and Jack? Could he have one? It was worth a try, he just had to keep his demon in check.

While his thoughts ran in circles he warmed himself some blood and checked his emails. As he had expected, there was a message from Dawn, she wanted to know if everything was alright and if he got any news. Spike had to smile a bit, he knew she was really concerned about him. He was running out of time, but he didn't want to let her wait any longer, so he wrote a short reply.

_Bit__, __no __need __to __worry __about __me__, __I__'__m __fine__. __I__'__m __in __a __bit __of __a __hurry __now__, __sunrise __is __soon __and __you __don__'__t __want __me __turn __into __a __pile __of __dust__, __do __you__? __I__'__ll __tell __you __the __details __later__,_

_Take __care__,_

_Spike_

He shut down the netbook, packed it into the messenger bag and added his last two bags of blood. A change of clothes might be useful, he randomly grabbed a shirt and a pair of jeans and stuffed them in the bag too. Another glance to the clock made him hurry up, he just had about 30 minutes left to reach the Tourist Office. He left the hotel again at a slow pace, but as soon as he was sure that nobody was watching him he sped up. By now he knew the shortest route to the Bay, but he knew just as well that he was really cutting it close, he had to hurry if he didn't want to turn into dust - there wasn't much cover for him on the Plass if he arrived past sunrise.

He ran as fast as he could, his thoughts had finally calmed down and the only thing on his mind was reaching the Bay in time before sunrise. He could feel the first rays of sunlight when he finally reached the Tourist Office. He didn't stop for a second, just hoped that the door was unlocked and kept running. Not only was it unlocked, Jack must have waited for him because the door opened before he reached it and closed again right after him.

Spike turned around to find a grinning Jack standing next to the door. "I told you, we should've taken the car."

"Why? I made it in time, didn't I?" Spike couldn't help but grin back at Jack.

He didn't know why, but despite his earlier doubts Spike felt now completely comfortable around Jack, all awkwardness was gone. No more thoughts about what had happened, no more self-accusation, no more remorse.

Jack gave him a questioning look, he must have noticed the difference in behaviour. But he didn't say anything, just led Spike down again to give him a quick tour through the Hub. Spike put his blood in the fridge, then slumped on the old sofa and picked his netbook up.

"Have to write a bit of an explanation for Dawn, she'll be worried, she's the only one who really cares about me, not just about the results I get." Spike didn't mind that Jack was reading over his shoulder when he opened his emails, he didn't have anything to hide. Dawn was obviously already awake and had sent him another message

_Spike__,_

_what__'__s __going __on __in __Cardiff__? __You __don__'__t __pick __up __the __phone __and __it __is __past __sunrise__, __now __I__'__m __really __worried __about __you__. __Please __write __as __soon __as __you __can __or __I __will __come __to __Cardiff __myself __and __bring __a __bunch __of __Slayers __with __me __as __a __search __party__. __I__'__m __sure __you __really __don__'__t __want __to __see __them__, __so __write __back__!_

_Dawn_

Spike had to smile at the concern that was even showing in this short message - and the thought of Dawn forcing several reluctant Slayers to search for him made him giggle.

_Hey __Bit__,_

_I __told __you __not __to __worry __about __me__, __everything __is __fine__ - __I__'__m __just __not __in __my __hotel __room__._

_I__'__ll __keep __this __short__, __will __tell __you __more __on __the __phone __as __soon __as __I__'__m __settled__. __This __stupid __typing __is __going __way __too __slow__._

_There __is __no __Hellmouth __here __in __Cardiff__, __but __some __kind __of __rift __in __time __and __space__. __Torchwood __is __an __organization __that __helps __to __keep __people __safe __from __whatever __comes __through __that __rift__. __As __I__'__m __of __no __real __use __for __you __and __the __Slayers__, __I__'__m __joining __them __here __and __will __fight __at __their __side __for __a __while__ - __it__'__s __not __much __different __from __what __I__'__ve __done __for __you __and __the __Watchers__ - __and __they __need __another __fighter __more __than __you __do__._

_It __might __be __good __to __join __forces __in __some __way__, __who __knows__, __some __demons __could __decide __to __come __to __this __bloody __town __and __create __even __more __chaos __than __there __is __already__. __Or __perhaps __some __of __the __demons __we__'__ve __encountered __are __not __really __demons __but __aliens__ – __might __be __a __good __idea __to __cross__-__check __each__other__'__s __databases__ (__and __don__'__t __even __think __about __it__, __I__'__m __not __the __one __doing __that__)._

_Take __care__,_

_Spike_

Spike glanced at Jack before he sent the message, to make sure that he hadn't given anything away he wasn't supposed to. Jack nodded once, so Spike sent the mail and closed his netbook. His gaze went through the Hub, then fell on Jack again who had moved to a workstation and was obviously checking some kind of data. He remembered what had happened between them, but didn't worry about it any more. There was no reason to feel bad, he hadn't killed the man, had not even bitten him – so why should he fret about something that would most likely never happen again?

It was strange, he finally felt accepted and at home again, even if he barely knew the town and the people he was going to work with. With a content sigh, Spike relaxed on the sofa and waited for whatever might happen next.

**The****End**


	2. Inner Demon

Spike was so bored, once again he had been left behind at the Hub because the latest Rift activity was detected during daylight in the middle of a park. All he could do was staring at a computer monitor and warn the rest of the team when there was something going on near them. Why couldn't those bloody aliens come at night like any decent demon? This was so not what he'd had in mind when he joined Torchwood a few weeks back. But he couldn't bring himself to quit - what else should he do? The Watchers didn't need him at all with all the Slayerettes. Going back to LA and working for Angel wasn't really an option either. So there was nothing left to do but to sit and wait - and hope that next time the action would be during the night.

At the end of a slow day with nothing to do for Spike, everybody was back, some minor wounds got patched up and they all went home - except for Spike who didn't want to go through the sewers and decided to wait for sundown. Jack had vanished into his private room below his office and Spike was all alone again. He didn't really mind, as he still felt uncomfortable around Jack. The strange attraction didn't go away, it even got worse and Spike feared he might lose control over his demon again if he allowed himself to be too close to Jack. He'd almost killed the man once, he didn't want to take any chances that it might happen again – and that this time he wouldn't be able to stop himself in time.

When he was just about to leave, the alarm sounded - there was a Weevil sighting near a shopping centre. That was just what he needed, a good fight would make him feel better and keep him from brooding. Spike didn't bother to call Jack, he just grabbed his duster and took off on his own.

Less than five minutes later he arrived at the shopping centre and found himself confronted with not just one but five Weevils. As soon as he started to fight the first one, they all turned to him and left the few people alone that were still around. Spike tried to move into a dark alleyway while fighting them, but found himself surrounded before he could reach it. Even his vampire speed and strength didn't seem to help him much against the five of them.

As much as he hated to admit that he got himself into more trouble than he could handle, he had to call for help. Thanks to the fancy earpiece that was part of his new equipment, he just needed one touch to call Jack: "Jack, I need your help, got five bloody Weevils here..."

"Shut up and keep fighting, I'm already on my way," Jack shouted angrily, "and next time you hear an alarm wait for me."

Before Spike could answer, he saw the black SUV slide around the nearest corner. It ran over one Weevil before it came to a halt. Jack jumped out as soon as the engine died. Even for the two of them it was a hard fight, the spray Jack brought didn't seem to work properly on the Weevils this time. Finally all of their opponents were unconscious and handcuffed and they started to load them into the car.

As soon as they were done, Spike found himself confronted with a really angry Captain Jack Harkness. "What the hell were you thinking, running off all on your own without telling anyone? You could've got yourself killed!" Jack shouted into his face and emphasised his words by shoving Spike's chest with both hands. Spike found his back pressed to the SUV, Jack uncomfortably close.

"'M old enough to take care of myself, don't need a bloody babysitter every time it gets a bit rough." Spike felt his anger – and with it his demon – rise and pushed back. Jack stumbled back a few steps and began to grin.

"You're really the same as John, stubborn as hell and when words don't help you any more, you start a fight."

The teasing was too much, Spike's demon took control and he attacked Jack. While he rushed towards Jack, he changed to game face and they immediately started to trade blows. Considering the fact that Jack was only human and had no extra strength, the fight went on for quite a while. At some point, they both started to laugh like mad men but didn't stop the fight until they both lay on the ground in a heap of limbs. Both were bruised and Jack had a split lip, but still they were uncontrollably laughing. By the time they had pulled themselves together, Jack stood up and looked sternly at Spike. "We need to talk, but first we'll have to bring the Weevils to the Hub."

Spike didn't answer, he had too much to think about. Once again he'd lost control over his demon, he could've killed Jack. What the bloody hell was wrong with him? He couldn't allow his demon to take control over him like this or he'd kill more innocent people than he already had on his consciousness – and he had sworn to himself that he'd never do that again.

They drove back in silence, Spike was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice Jack's glances. While he tried to calm down, he could feel his demon trying to be in charge again and being close to Jack in the SUV didn't really help. As soon as they arrived at the Hub, Spike got out of the car and started to drag Weevils to the arrest cells – he just needed to put some distance between Jack and himself. He felt as if he would break in half soon – one part controlled by his mind and soul and the other part controlled by his demon. And again, he didn't notice that Jack gave him a curious look.

Spike had planned to leave the Hub as soon as all the Weevils were safely put in their cells, but Jack seemed to have other ideas. He was waiting for Spike and handed him a mug of blood, gesturing to the resting area where he had placed a bottle of Scotch and two glasses.

"We really need to talk, sit down."

Spike didn't want to stay, but he couldn't think of any excuse Jack might accept so he grabbed the mug with both hands and sat down at one end of the sofa. He took his time drinking some of the blood before he looked expectantly at Jack.

"So, start talking..."

Jack sighed as he saw Spike's defensive posture and sat down as well. "I think you're breaking apart and need to do something against it, soon. I've been noticing for quite a while now that you're either totally in control of your emotions and actions or that you lose control completely. And if you don't do anything soon, I fear your demon might take control over you again and you might not be able to put it back on a leash."

Spike couldn't help but stare at Jack. That was not what he had expected. How could Jack describe so perfectly how he felt? He didn't really hear the rest of what Jack had to say, he just sank lower and lower into the sofa, not caring any more about showing his feelings. It was one thing the he feared about losing control and breaking apart but quite another thing to hear it spoken out loud by someone else. Spike felt so helpless, he didn't know what to do now – so he retreated into himself. He just wanted to curl into a ball to keep himself from breaking apart. He was so lost in his own mind that he was startled when Jack gently touched his hands and removed the long empty mug from them.

Spike looked up and found Jack all too close to him, he couldn't take his eyes off Jack's lips, wanted to kiss this man, bite him – kill him. Shocked about his own thoughts he shoved Jack away and retreated even further into the corner of the sofa.

"Stay the hell away from me or I might bloody well kill you," he hissed through gritted teeth and was startled by Jack's warm, genuine laughter.

"You couldn't kill me, no matter how hard you tried." Jack was still grinning and Spike just stared at him because he didn't get the joke.

"What's so funny? Don't like people making fun of me." Spike got angry and his eyes flashed golden for a moment.

"I'm not making fun of you, I just can't die – ever. Or to be more correct, I die but I come back after a short while. And believe me, I've died quite a few times now, I always come back to life."

Jack's answer was so quiet and serious, Spike was tempted to believe it, but still it was difficult to control his anger, or more accurately – to control his demon.

"Nice story – but I don't think you wanted to tell me a bloody bedtime story. So what's this talk all about?" His anger helped Spike to pull himself together and be his usual self again. He lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply.

"I believe you should stop acting like a fool and start giving in to your true feelings from time to time." Jack replied calmly. "If you don't find a way to let your demon be a part of yourself as well as your soul, I fear your demon will take control – and as far as I know that's not what you want. Just let it take control sometimes where it is appropriate, give it what it craves. That might make it easier to hold the demon back in other situations."

"You think in order to stop my demon from taking control, I should let it take control?" Spike looked at Jack with disbelief. "You can't be serious about that."

"I'm dead serious. As far as I can tell, your demon is craving violence, sex and blood – so let it take control in fights, stop holding back. Did you ever ask yourself why I could stand up against you in a fight? Because you're not really fighting, you're holding back most of your strength. And why do you do that? Because you fear to hurt me, fear to lose control. And as I just told you, you don't need to hold back because you can't really kill me or damage me permanently."

"You must be bloody kidding me, even if it's true and you come back to life, you can't really want me to kill you. And that's exactly what would happen if I'd let my demon take control and you were around. 'M not sure if I'd rather hurt or shag you before I killed you, but I'm sure that you'd end up dead no matter what."

"Like you killed me last time?" Jack asked teasingly.

"Stop the hell joking around about this – it's hard enough for me that I almost lost control last time, don't need to hear you make fun of it. And't won't happen again." Spike grabbed the bottle of Scotch from the table and took a swig without bothering for a glass.

As he tried to get up and leave, he found himself way too close to Jack who pushed Spike back to the sofa and let himself drop on top of him.

"Stop thinking and finally do what you really want to do," Jack whispered in his ear.

Having Jack's body so close, feeling his heat and his heartbeat was too much for Spike's self control. With an almost feral sound he caught Jack's lips in a hard kiss and his eyes changed their colour again. A small part of him still thought that he should hold back or he might actually hurt Jack, but he didn't really care any more. His lips were wandering down to Jack's neck where he placed small bites with still blunt teeth while he hastily removed Jack's shirt, almost tearing it apart in the process. The rest of their clothes followed in quick succession and soon they were both naked.

Spike kept placing bites along Jack's neck, hard enough to leave marks, but he didn't break skin - yet. Jack had thrown his head back, his eyes were closed and he was moaning quietly. He seemed to be lost in the pleasure and pain of Spike's bites and kisses. To see Jack like that let Spike forget every thought of holding back, he just wanted to feel and taste more of the other man. They fell on the sofa, their bodies touching in as many places as possible. As their erections met the feeling of hot flesh meeting a cool body made them both moan out loud.

Jack fumbled for his trousers and quickly brought his hand back up – holding a small tube of lube. Spike grabbed it and quickly prepared Jack, he didn't think about anything but being buried in this hot, willing body. Judging by Jack's gasps and moans, that was exactly what he wanted too, but Spike didn't really care any more, wasn't sure he could stop if Jack asked him to. With an almost feral growl he thrust into Jack, his demon had taken control completely now and Spike's features changed to show his vampire face.

Spike was thrusting into Jack wild and hard, almost brutal, he knew he'd leave bruises. Jack had wrapped his legs around Spike and met every thrust. Soon they both were close to coming and the second he felt his orgasm approach, Spike buried his teeth in Jack's neck. The sweet taste of the hot human blood exploded in his mouth, that combined with the feeling of his orgasm were almost too much, Spike got lost in the sensations. He barely felt that Jack came too, he just wanted more of this wonderful blood that finally seemed to still his hunger. He hadn't even realized before how hungry he was – or was he just craving human blood? It didn't matter, he just kept drinking, and ignored when Jack briefly struggled against his hold.

Then there was no more blood, no more heartbeat and slowly the demon retreated. Spike's face changed back to human and he stared with a shocked expression at the dead body beneath him. He crawled back to the far end of the sofa, sat down in an almost fetal position and buried his head in his hands.

"What have I done?" he whispered over and over again, his hands wandering through his hair and over his face. From time to time he looked up and quickly buried his head again in his hands when he caught a glimpse of Jack's corpse.

"I knew I shouldn't've done this, have to get out of here," he mumbled after a while and stood up to grab his clothes. Just as he had turned his back to the sofa, he heard a gasp from behind and spun around. To his surprise, Jack was sitting up and looked at him.

"Why do you look so haunted, told you I'd come back from the dead," Jack said with a smile.

Spike couldn't believe it, how on earth could this guy be so nonchalant about the fact that he'd just killed him? He knew all too well that he would have done it even if Jack hadn't told him before that he'd come back – and Spike hadn't really believed him anyway. He let his head drop into his hands again, too ashamed to look at Jack right now.

"Spike, look at me!" Jack leaned towards Spike and gently took the vampire's hands in his own. "That's exactly what I tried to explain to you earlier – if you don't let your demon have some fun now and then, you might not be able to control it if necessary. But there's no harm done, I'm fine – really."

Spike still didn't really believe him, but looked up. "It's not as if I'd cared when I killed you..." he whispered, his voice trailing off at the end.

"But you care now, that's all that matters – we just need to find a way to keep your demon and your soul in balance and everything will be fine, trust me." Jack pulled Spike into his arms and held him tight.

The warm body wrapped around him, the strong arms holding him finally grounded Spike again and he stopped thinking about what would've happened if Jack hadn't come back. After a while, he gently pushed Jack away and sat up again.

"You're right, I need to figure this out, but without killing anyone else – and bloody well without killing you again." He still didn't meet Jack's eyes, but continued while he picked up his clothes: "'M going to find a solution, but for now I need a shower and some time to think about it."

As he looked up, Jack just nodded and gathered his own clothes. "I'm in my office if you need me."

On his way to the showers, Spike realized something important – he didn't feel like falling apart any more. To be honest he felt better than he had in a long while, despite the fact that he'd just killed Jack – or maybe just because he'd done it?


	3. Stronger

Spike woke up all of a sudden, finding himself chained to a stone wall. He was naked and his body ached everywhere, his head was spinning. What the hell had happened to him? How did he bring himself into this situation?

Slowly, the memories came back…

__8 hours earlier__

__It was still early in the night and Spike was looking for something – anything – to do. He still didn't know how to control his demon and was looking for a distraction from his own thoughts. Then he heard it, the sounds of fighting, people cheering the fighters on; that might be just what he needed tonight.__

__He had no problem finding the right building and just entered as if he belonged there. Nobody even thought about stopping him. What he saw in there was not what he expected, but still promised some fun. There was a big cage with a Weevil in it and people – humans – entered the cage for a fight. The Weevil was totally out of control, attacking immediately but most of the men managed to escape from the cage with just a few bruises.__

__The scent of sweat and blood made Spike hungry for a fight, for blood. He didn't really think about it when he entered the cage, his eyes already flashing golden – he just wanted a good fight, some violence to satisfy the needs of his demon. When the Weevil rushed towards him, Spike's features shifted and he showed his demonic face. It was a good fight, the Weevil didn't give up and neither did Spike. In the end, Spike was the winner – he had some bruises and from his left eyebrow trickled a bit of blood into his eye, but the Weevil was dead, his neck broken.__

__Spike felt good, better than he had in a long time. He turned around to leave the cage, his features softening to human again, when he felt himself hit by something in the back – then everything went dark.  
><em>_  
>Those bloody bastards must have knocked him out with a drug or something, and judging from the bruises all over his body, they thought it was funny to beat up someone who was unconscious.<p>

Spike tested the chains that held his hands together on his back and wrapped around his ankles. They were too strong to be broken and seemed to be connected to a ring in the wall. He could not move much, was barely able to sit up but sitting was still better than lying on the concrete floor, waiting for whatever might happen next. This wasn't the first time he was held captive, and as the chains were strong enough to keep him here, he might as well relax and try to get some rest. Resting the back of his head to the wall, he shifted a bit to get as comfortable as possible and closed his eyes.

Cold water splashed over his head and brought him back, within a second his eyes flashed golden, his game face showed and he tried to lunge at the man standing a few steps away from him. The chains held him back, didn't even allow him to get to his feet, but Spike noticed with satisfaction that the man took a step back at the sudden assault. To see the fear in the eyes of his captor was even worth the pain in his wrists, where the chains dug deep into his flesh as he lunged forward.

Still in game face, he half smiled half growled at the man who was cautiously advancing him again.

"I don't know what you are, but you're going to replace the creature you killed – until you're the one who loses a fight and gets killed." The dark haired man had a low, cold voice and didn't show the tiniest sign of emotion when he crouched down in front of the vampire, barely out of reach.

"In your dreams," Spike snarled back.

"We'll see… you'll beg me in a few days to let you into the cage, just to make the pain stop."

"As if you were the first who tries to break me," Spike couldn't help himself, he started to laugh like mad.

Then the pain started… Spike didn't know how much time had passed, how many times he had been beaten and kicked but he felt less and less like himself. His demon took control more often than not, especially as he began to starve. The constant damage to his body used a lot of energy for healing and he didn't get any blood – but wasn't willing to admit what kind of creature he was and what kind of food he needed.

His hunger grew until it was more important than anything, the pain didn't matter any more. But every time someone entered his cell, his demon surfaced, craved for the blood he could hear rushing through their veins. Fortunately his captors weren't aware of the fact that he would've attacked everyone if they'd thrown him into a cage with a human, his hunger was just too much to be controlled any more.

But then something changed, he could hear shouting, guns, fighting – and some of the voices were familiar. He was too far gone to really care, but when two deliciously smelling humans stormed into his cell, an almost forgotten part in his mind recognized them.

"Gwen, Ianto, stay away from me," Spike growled, knowing he wouldn't be able to keep himself from draining them as soon as they were in reach of his fangs.

Both stopped their approach immediately, Ianto held his gaze and Gwen seemed to be unable to look at him.

"Gwen, go and get Jack," Ianto told her. Then he addressed Spike and said calmly: "Jack will be here in a minute, he'll help you."

Unimpressed by Spike's snarls and growls, Ianto just stood there and waited patiently for Jack.

Jack arrived a minute later, glanced at Spike and turned back to Ianto.

"Please, wait outside, you don't have to see that." His concern could be clearly heard.

"No, I'm staying right here." Ianto answered and made clear that it wasn't up for discussion.

"Won't force you to go." Jack shrugged and slowly approached Spike.

"Don't think I'll have to tell you what to do, do I?" He asked the vampire while he crouched down in front of him, just out of reach.

When Spike realised what Jack had planned, he flinched back a bit and growled: "No!"

He didn't want to kill Jack again, despite his hunger. He knew all too well that Jack might come back, but that he really hated to die. His inner fight was visible on his vampiric features, part of him craved the blood he could smell in Jack and Ianto, yet another part didn't want to hurt anyone – especially not someone he cared for.

But when Jack moved closer, practically wrapped himself around Spike and placed his throat at Spike's mouth it was too much to resist. He could hear the blood rushing through Jack's veins, feel his heartbeat pulsing at his lips, smell Jack's unique scent. With a growl he sank his teeth in Jack's throat and drank greedily the hot human blood. Jack wrapped an arm around him and grabbed him by the back of his head, holding him close.

After a few moments he slowed down, savouring the feeling of the delicious blood, now rushing through his body. He could feel himself getting stronger with every mouthful he swallowed. When he tried to stop, Jack grabbed him harder and whispered "Drink."

Spike stopped thinking then, enjoyed the blood that was so freely given. His eyes travelled to Ianto who stood there, watching them with a mix of horror and jealousy in his eyes. Jack's heartbeat faltered a moment later and Spike swallowed one last mouthful of his blood before slowly sinking back to the concrete floor. Jack came to rest on top of him, still wrapped around the vampire's lean form.

His features smoothed and his eyes turned blue again. Now looking human again, Spike looked at Ianto who was still watching him.

"Care to remove those soddin' manacles?" Spike asked. "Wouldn't mind to get rid of them now."

"Sorry, don't trust you yet, you'll have to wait until Jack is back with us." Ianto replied with a concerned look to Jack's limp body.

"Not gonna bite you." Spike tried his most innocent look.

"And that's exactly what you'd say to get me close enough to bite me."

"Y' sure look good enough to eat, but Jack would dust me if I'd harm you." Spike replied with a smirk.

Before Ianto could answer, Jack stirred and sat up with a gasp. Jack's eyes immediately drifted to Spike, he seemed to be glad to see him all human looking again.

"How are you?" he asked with a bit of concern in his voice.

"'M fine, thanks…" Spike replied, a bit ashamed that once again he had killed Jack. He didn't know what else to say and squirmed a bit under the questioning look that seemed to see right through him and inside his soul.

"Then let's get out of here; Ianto, hand me the keys please." Jack was all business again and caught the keys Ianto threw to him with one hand. Quickly he unlocked the manacles and chains before he moved a step back.

Spike moaned in pain when he moved his legs and arms for the first time in days but still enjoyed to be able to stand and to move. He looked down at himself, still naked, covered in bruises and dried blood. Suddenly self-conscious, he turned to the wall a bit before glancing at Jack again.

"Can't go out like that, got any clothes for me?" He had barely finished his question, when Gwen came back in with his own clothing in her hands. Even his beloved duster was there.

"Found those in the room across the hall, thought you might need them." She said, not really looking at Spike but unable to keep her eyes completely away from him. Gwen blushed, handed the bundle of clothing to Ianto and quickly left the room again.

"I'll wait in the SUV." She mumbled on her way out.

Spike quickly grabbed his jeans and started dressing, almost feeling like himself again when he was wearing his usual outfit down to his old, comfy boots. All he needed now was a long, hot shower and a comfortable bed to sleep for at least 12 hours.

They quickly left the building; it was the same warehouse the fights were hold in. Spike didn't even care to look back, he just wanted to get home. The drive back to Spike's apartment was made in silence – they all knew that they would have plenty of time to talk later.

"You're okay with staying alone?" Jack asked with concern when Spike opened the door in front of his apartment house.

"Just need a shower and some sleep, 'm really fine." Spike answered with a tired smile. "I'll call you 's soon as I'm awake again."

He felt so exhausted – physically and emotionally – he couldn't even think about what had happened. After a quick hot shower he fell on his bed, still damp as he didn't even care about drying himself. He curled up under the covers and was sound asleep within seconds.

Spike couldn't tell how long he had slept, but when he woke up it was dark outside again. His body was still aching in numerous places, but he didn't really care – he'd been hurt so many times before, it wasn't bothering him any more. The worst of the damage to his body seemed to have healed because of the human blood he got from Jack and in a few days the rest of his injuries would be gone too.

He checked his fridge, only to find that the blood in there had gone bad, before he had another long shower and dressed into his favourite pair of jeans and his favourite red shirt. Now he felt ready to face Jack and the rest of the team and made his way to the hub. On the way he stopped at a butcher's to get some more blood, he knew he would need more than usually until he was healed completely.

When he stepped through the door and saw the genuine concern in the face of his team mates, he felt at home. Despite the fact that he was here for a little more than a month, it felt like home to be among people who didn't just tolerate or use him but who really cared about him. But he couldn't bring himself to display his feelings openly, so he just shrugged when asked if he was fine and answered with a smirk.

"'M fine, takes more than a bunch of wannabe bad guys to mess with the Big Bad." He winked at Ianto who looked at him in disbelief and couldn't suppress a chuckle when he saw Jack smile at him.

"Ya know what they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." He grinned again and made his way to the microwave to warm some more blood. Looking back over his shoulder he asked "So, how long have I been gone?"

He really felt stronger than before, more in control than he had been for a long, long time. First the chip had been messing with him, then the soul came on top of it and all the time his demon had been suppressed. But slowly he seemed to find a way to deal with the conflicting desires in his mind, he didn't try to suppress his demon any more but tried to give him what he craved for. And a good fight or a good shag were not only good for his demon, but for his soul too.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't really listen to Jack telling him that he had been held captive for four days before they had found him. He just enjoyed being with those people who didn't just see the evil in him but cared for him and accepted him as he was. There wasn't the slightest hint of accusation in their eyes, no disgust about him drinking blood, and especially no fear.

Spike considered himself lucky to have found them, it was almost as good as having a family again. He just knew that he could deal with everything, if he allowed himself to accept their help.

For now, they were done with talking and went back to a normal day – or what was considered normal at Torchwood.


	4. Interesting Times

Spike is all alone at the Hub that night. Even Jack is spending the night at Ianto's apartment after a stressful day with about a gazillion Rift alarms. With most of those Spike couldn't help as they happened to be somewhere outdoors in broad daylight, so he has volunteered to watch the Rift activity to allow everyone else a night off.

It's a quiet night, the minutes are slowly ticking by. It's almost 3 am now and Spike is bored, wondering why he is sitting here at all when suddenly the Rift alarm sounds. He quickly checks the data on his screens.

"Bloody hell, why does this have to happen tonight? Can't go there without backup or Jack will kill me." He's tapping his com: "Jack, Ianto, wake up… There's been a Rift alarm and something or someone human sized came through. And my screen gave me a warning that it might be dangerous, you would have my head if I went there alone."

"Alright, just send us the location and we'll be there as soon as we can, don't do anything stupid." Jack replies; Spike can hear rustling noises in the background, probably Ianto getting dressed.

"Fine, sending you the location, 'm off now." Before he has finished his conversation Spike already is grabbing his duster and heading out the door at top speed. Even if he had to wake up Jack and Ianto, at least something exciting is happening now, that's always better than being bored.

He's sprinting towards the Library where the Rift activity was reported and climbs the stairs to the roof as fast as he can, but still completely silent. He hides in a shadow and looks across the roof, not even breathing to avoid giving himself away before Jack and Ianto arrive. There, on the other side of the roof, sitting on the grass, is a man in a bright red coat, armed with at least two guns and a sword. The guy turns his head from one side to the other as if he's looking for something. Spike can't get a good look at his face until finally the man seems to look him directly into the eyes. This man looks so much like him, it can only be John Hart – the reason why he received more than one beating when he first arrived in Cardiff.

"What on earth are you doing here?" Spike starts walking towards the man, his features shift to his vamp face and he doesn't even notice it. "You must be the reason everyone was knocking me around when I first came to Cardiff. And you don't even really look like me! How could they confuse us?"

The man looks up, tilts his head, and is seemingly unimpressed by a vampire walking up to him. He slowly gets up from the grass and looks at Spike with a wide grin. "No, I'm much prettier than you are, don't you think?"

Spike is right in front of his slightly aged look-alike now, invading his personal space, but the other man isn't even batting an eyelid and doesn't take a step back. "I like the way I look and never had any complaints, old man. And I'm for sure more dangerous than you, you should watch your mouth."

"Don't underestimate me," John replies, while his knee connects with Spike's groin. "You might regret it, vamp boy."

"Vamp boy?" Spike doubles over in pain, but gives back as good as he got and rams his elbow into John's stomach. They both grin like mad as they continue to fight.

Soon they are rolling across the grass – and why is there even grass on a roof top - hitting and scratching and insulting each other. They don't even realize when a few minutes later two sets of heavy footsteps come up the stairs and Jack and Ianto burst onto the roof. Once those two realize what's going on, they look at each other, roll their eyes and step back to watch whatever will happen next. The fighting goes on for quite a while, neither Spike nor John are getting the upper hand.

"I wonder when they'll stop to behave like kindergarteners." Ianto says eventually when there is no sign that the fight will be over anytime soon.

Two sets of blue eyes settle on him and the fighting stops instantly. "We are ****not**** behaving like kindergarteners." John and Spike say almost at the same time and Spike's face shifts back to normal again. They both have some bruises and some minor cuts, John is breathing heavily, but they seem to be fine otherwise.

"Care to tell me what you are doing here?" Jack asks, arms folded in front of his chest.

"We were just having a friendly argument." John stands up with a wide grin and spreads his arms. "Nothing to worry about, you know me."

"Right, I know you... and you know perfectly well that's not what I was asking. What are you doing here and now, in 21stcentury Cardiff, John?„Jack's voice is like ice.

"Well, I thought I'd check what you are up to before I'm leaving this planet again, was waiting up here for you and then I met this bleached blond menace..."

"Oi, watch your mouth, you with your silly coat..." Spike makes an attempt to stand up and glares at John.

"Kids, no more fighting, or I'll have to do something about it." Jack sounds serious, even if he has a rather amused smile on his face. "Let's go to the Hub and talk about it, but if the two of you keep fighting, I'll lock you up in the cells - both of you..." Jack adds, looking from John to Spike.

John just shoots him a dazzling smile. "If you ask so nicely, I will be a good boy."

With an even wider smile, John turns to Spike who's still sitting on the grass, trying to get his demon back in check. It got a lot easier once he had accepted that a certain amount of violence would help to satisfy his demon, but he still has a hard time to get back into control after a fight. Taking a deep breath, he looks up, taking in the brown boots, strong legs encased in blue jeans, well toned upper body in a once white shirt and red hussar jacket up to the face that looks so much like his and still doesn't. He can smell blood and sweat, arousal and excitement on the man in front of him, and he sighs when an entirely different need demands to be fulfilled. There'd been so much going on lately that he didn't have any time with Jack alone, which means no sex as he still doesn't trust himself about humans. At least with Jack he knows that he can't do any permanent damage in case he loses control, even if he has managed not to kill Jack any more after he came back from being captured by this fight club a few months earlier. He shakes his head to get rid of those thoughts that don't do him any good right now and takes John's outstretched hand to get off the ground.

They somehow manage to get back to The Hub without another fight, Jack sitting in the back with John, Spike in the front and Ianto driving. There are some angry glares, but every time Spike and John start to say something, Jack will interrupt them and threaten to lock them up if they can't behave. So Spike spends most of the short drive thinking about the fact that John has managed stand up to him in a fight and even seemed to enjoy it. That looks like a really good opportunity to let off some steam if they ever can get rid of Jack. He's sure that John is more than up to continuing where they got interrupted earlier. But he doesn't want to piss off Jack enough to get locked up, and he's sure that wasn't an empty thread. As if he would kill John, the first person in a long time who could keep up in a fight with him. Where would be the fun in that?

Back at the Hub, they make their way to the conference room and wait for Ianto to bring some coffee. It seems so normal now, but still it reminds Spike of his first time here. Without realizing it, he starts to smile as he looks at the conference table and remembers his first intimate encounter with Jack and how confused he was back then. He's much more at ease with himself and his demon now and has no more problems with the fact that he's not just interested in women. After all, he's never been afraid to try something new. When he looks up again, he discovers that John is looking at him with an amused smile and he can clearly see that the other man knows exactly what he was thinking about right now. He decides to accept the challenge in that look and smirks at John.

"See anything you like?" he asks, raising one eyebrow.

John's smile gets even wider and he lets his eyes travel over Spike's body as if he hadn't seen it before. "Not bad, but your style could be improved, you need some more colour in your wardrobe. Red would look good on you."

At that moment Ianto arrives and hands everyone a cup of coffee before leaning to the wall as if to say 'sort this without me, I'll pretend not to be here'. Coffee seems to be the one thing they all agree about, so they just sit down and drink for now.

"So, why are you here, John?" Jack asks after a first sip of his coffee.

"I told you, wanted to check on you and your pretty team before leaving the planet. I managed to repair my wrist strap - wasn't too complicated, you should probably be more thorough next time." John winks. "I planned to stay for a few days if you don't mind."

"And I'm supposed to believe you?"

At that point, Spike starts to blend their voices out, he has a hard time to keep himself in control as part of him still screams to just continue the fight he had earlier, while another part screams for him to tear the clothes of John Hart and shag him right here and now. But there's still a small part of him that stays in control and makes him sit and drink his coffee, despite the pheromones and the lingering scent of blood in the room. He doesn't really know how much time has passed when someone calls his name.

"Spike, shouldn't you go home, sun's almost up?" Ianto seems to be concerned. He's right though, now that Spike pays attention again he realizes that he's only got a few minutes left until sunrise, probably too few to make it home safe.

"I'll just crash on the sofa here, too risky to go out now." Spike notices, that he and Ianto are the only ones left in the room. "Where did John and Jack go? I didn't even notice when they left."

"I could see that, are you alright?"

"'m fine, just needed to think about a few things. So, where did they go?"

"Jack is showing John to a guest room in the lower levels, where he can keep an eye on him. If he behaves, we might even get some sleep." Ianto yawns. "Coffee can only get you so far, sometimes I'd appreciate a bit of uninterrupted sleep."

"Then go to bed, I'm just going to get myself some blood." Spike gets up and grabs his and Ianto's mug on the way to the kitchen without even thinking about it.

A short time later Spike is almost falling asleep on the sofa when he hears Jack walk through the Hub and up to his office. He doesn't bother to open his eyes and turns his back to the room instead. Within seconds he's asleep.

"John, what are you doing here?" Jack's voice wakes Spike up, it feels like he's barely slept. He can see John Hart walking across the Hub and Jack standing in front of his office, leaning on the railing.

"You didn't really think I'd let you sneak around the Hub, did you? Should've known that I am monitoring you."

"Wasn't sneaking, just couldn't sleep and wanted to get a coffee or something." But John doesn't look at the kitchen when he says that, he's looking at Spike.

Jack sighs and slowly walks down the stairs.

"Let's try not to wake Ianto up as well, at least one of us should get some sleep. I'll make coffee for the three of us."

Spike yawns. "Speak for yourself Jack, I'm going back to sleep." He turns to John. "I'll use your room, you don't seem to need it. If you want to sleep, here's a sofa."

With that he grabs his duster and stomps towards the lower levels in search of the guest room. It's not hard to find, most rooms here are either archives or unused. The 'guest room' turns out to be a storage room with a spare corner, now filled with a camp bed. But he slept in worse places, far worse, so just a few minutes later he's asleep again.

It feels like only a few seconds have passed, when he wakes up with a start as the door opens almost silently. Still half asleep, he leaps off the bed, changes to game face and snarls at the intruder. Completely unimpressed by this display John Hart opens the door completely and gives him a wide smile.

"Is that a way to greet a visitor?"

"You should never startle a sleeping vampire, might be bad for your health." Spike's features shift back to human. "And now get out of here, I'm trying to sleep."

He's taking another step towards John when their eyes lock. Pheromones attack his senses and he isn't even aware that he's licking his lips. As if in slow motion they move closer until they are almost touching, Spike can feel John's body heat even through their clothes. They freeze in place, Spike's thoughts are racing. He wants to punch and kiss and shag John, all at the same time. His body doesn't seem to wait for a conscious decision and leans in even more, his hands itch to touch the warm body in front of him. Right before they touch, the door opens again and Jack pulls them apart.

"Didn't I tell you to leave him alone and not to sneak around the Hub, John? If you want me to lock you up, you just have to say so."

"I'm not sneaking, and I'm not doing anything to your pet vampire, just wanted to get my sword." John points to a corner behind the bed where they can see his sword.

"Oi, not a pet, thank you very much. And Jack, I don't need you to baby sit me, can take care of myself. Now let me get back to sleep, or you'll both regret it." Spike turns back to the bed and throws a death glare over his shoulder to both of them. It seems to work, as they both leave in a hurry, John doesn't even take his sword with him.

When Spike joins them a few hours later, they obviously have decided that John will stay for a while. He even has a room of his own that's not filled with storage boxes. Gwen doesn't really like the idea of having John around, but accepts Jack's decision.

The next two days are mostly business as usual, a Rift alarm here and there but nothing they can't handle. And it certainly doesn't' hurt that they have a pair of hands and a bunch of weapons more than usual. Spike and John keep dancing around each other, a bit of teasing here and a few meaningful looks there. The tension between them keeps growing, but Jack does an annoyingly good job at keeping them busy without giving them any chance to be alone. Spike feels more and more like he's got a babysitter, so on the evening of the second day he walks up to Jack's office.

He kicks the door shut behind him, doesn't care that Ianto and John will most likely hear it. Gwen has left a few minutes earlier.

"I'm not going to kill him, you don't need to keep us apart all the time." He's so angry and frustrated, that his eyes are flashing yellow. Jack just keeps sitting behind his desk and regards him with an amused smile which infuriates Spike even more. "I'm not a child, stop treating me like one!" Spike is almost shouting now, he stands right beside Jack and looms over him.

"Are you done yet? Then sit down and we can talk." Jack doesn't seem to be the slightest bit impressed by a very angry vampire standing in front of him.

The calm response catches Spike off guard and he visibly deflates. He walks back to the front of Jack's desks and turns a chair around, so he can fold his arms over the back rest.

"I'm all ears, but you'd better have a bloody good reason for this."

"Did it ever occur to you that I might try to protect ****you**** and not John? I know what he's capable of and I'm pretty sure that he's up to something."

"And I can take care of myself, thank you very much, or I wouldn't have made it through the last century."

"Don't underestimate him, Spike…"

"I won't, I've handled more dangerous people and demons before."

"I'm just concerned, I don't want you to run blind into something you might not be able to handle. He is far more dangerous than he looks."

"You've warned me now… and John, why don't you come in? Will be easier to listen in on us that way. You really should know better by now than to try and sneak up on me." Spike's head turns to the door while he's speaking.

John walks in, smiling his most innocent smile and sits on the edge on Jack's desk as if he hadn't just been caught spying on them.

"So, did you manage to convince him that neither of us needs protection? He doesn't want to listen to me, doesn't trust me." John leans back on his outstretched hands and tilts his head towards Spike.

"I bloody well hope so, at least he'll stay out of my way now if he doesn't want me to test whether he really comes back from every death…" Spike growls, but he can't help smiling.

"Hey, I'm sitting right here!" Jack tries to look annoyed, but they both see right through it and know that he is rather amused by their behaviour.

Spike glances at the clock in Jack's office, it's almost eight and in October that means it is safe for him to go out.

"I'm off for a drink, according to the Rift prediction program nothing will happen tonight. Anyone joining me?" Spike looks at them both while he gets up. "There's a concert at the Globe, we could all go and enjoy a night off."

They all like the idea, so about thirty minutes later they find themselves in a small, overheated room full of people. Somehow Ianto manages to find a table for them upstairs and John walks off to get them some drinks. Soon he returns with a round of pints and a bottle of whiskey. The music is nice, but it is too loud to talk, so they just listen to the band and drink. It doesn't take Spike long to realize that he can't drink John Hart under the table, he is impressed by just how much this guy can drink without giving the slightest sign of getting drunk. They have finished the whiskey between the two of them. Jack and Ianto just had beer so far and are watching them with amusement. By the time the concert is over, Spike and John have finished another bottle of whiskey and don't want to go home just yet. In an unspoken agreement, John swaggers off to the bar to buy one more bottle of whiskey for them. And Spike does his best to convince Jack that yes, he can be left alone with John, no, he doesn't need Jack's help.

Jack is reluctant to go until Ianto leans in and whispers in his ear – loud enough for Spike to hear: "Let's go home. Spike's right, he can take care of himself."

That seems to do the trick, as soon as John is back from the bar Jack puts his arm around Ianto's waist and they leave.

Spike nods at John to follow him and they make their way down the stairs into the cold autumn night. Spike leads the way through the streets of Cardiff to his apartment and they walk in companionable silence. That's a nice change from all the teasing and fighting they've been doing during the last few days, but soon Spike can feel the tension between them growing again. His mind is racing, what does he want? Another fight? Shag John until he isn't as cocky anymore? Both? None?

They reach his little apartment and he still doesn't know what to do, so he grabs the now half-empty bottle from John and takes another deep swig before he opens the door.

"You coming in?" He turns to John, who instead of an answer takes two fast steps towards Spike, presses him against the wall besides the door and starts to kiss him. They immediately start to fight for control over the kiss, but Spike is overwhelmed by the pheromones and the heat the other man seems to radiate. He lets himself be pushed to the bed, their hands fighting with clothing. He wants to touch this hot, smooth skin, wants to be touched. The kiss turns into bites and he moans when John starts to kiss and bite down his neck. He stops to think and acts on instinct now, allows John to take control for now. Hot, strong hands wander over his cooler body, down to the waistband of his jeans.

Then he's naked and John is too, they somehow got rid of their clothing without ever breaking skin contact. John is lying on top of him, heavy, holding him down and he is overwhelmed by his presence again. All his senses are filled with John Hart – he feels the heat, tastes the sweat and a bit of blood from their first kiss, smells the arousal and excitement, hears his harsh breaths and accelerated heart beat. Just his eyes are closed, he doesn't want to see where he is, wants to get lost in the sensations. Spike spreads his legs a bit to get more contact and John slides between them. Their cocks are now touching and Spike moves his hips to get more friction.

"No need to hurry, we have all the time in the world to play." John almost purrs into his ear. Then he starts to kiss his way down Spike's body, pausing to suck and bite on his nipples for a while. Spike's hands move up over John's muscular back, over his neck until they are buried in his hair. A hot tongue is painting patterns on his stomach now and he can't help but thrust his hips up to finally get John to pay his neglected cock some attention. John chuckles at that and Spike can feel it vibrate through his body. A soft moan escapes his lips as finally a hot mouth closes around him. He had thought Jack's blowjobs were good, but John's is spectacular. But then he freezes, as a finger is sliding over his balls and in his cleft.

"Stop!" He pulls John off him, who looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't tell me you've never been with a man, there's no way that Jack's not tried to get into your pants. And I know how convincing he can be." John is genuinely bemused now.

"Having sex with a man is not the problem here, it's just…" Spike is glad that vampires can't blush or he'd be imitating a tomato now. "Jack has never…" He tries again and feels suddenly stupid when he sees the wide grin on John's face.

"Oh, he let you top!" He looks down at Spike and seems to challenge him. "So, are you afraid to try something new?"

Spike is still incredibly turned on despite being embarrassed and decides to accept the challenge. His lips curve into a smirk. "I'm not afraid of anything you could do to me, I can always stop you if I don't like it." He lets his features shift and pulls John in for a harsh kiss. His fangs draw a bit of blood and they both moan into the kiss. To his delight he now can taste and smell a bit of fear on John, which doesn't seem to stop the other man. After what feels like an eternity, he breaks the kiss and releases his hold on John. "Are __you__ scared now?" He grins up.

John chuckles at that. "Life would be so __boring__ without a bit of adrenaline from time to time." His left hand moves to his jeans right beside the bed and comes back with a pack of lube. His eyes sparkle as he looks down at Spike again. "Just relax, I'm good at this." He winks.

Spike can't help but chuckle a bit himself. "Might've noticed that. Now, can you get back to what you were doing before?" He thrusts his hip up again and his still hard cock slides against John's equally hard one. That's all it takes to convince John to slide down his body again and he loses himself in the sensations of that incredibly hot mouth again. It feels strange when a slick finger enters him, but John does this wicked thing with his tongue and he just spreads his legs wider. Soon a second finger joins the first and it starts to feel really good as they move in and out of him.

He loses track of time as he enjoys the twin sensation. He's a bit startled when John moves and something much bigger starts to push inside him. He growls at the slight pain, but at the same time wraps his legs around John and pulls him even closer. A bit of pain has always been a turn on for him, he's a vampire after all. John feels so hot in him, on top of him, it feels incredibly good. He can barely stop himself from biting the other man when a fresh wave of pheromones invades his senses. Fangs bared, he looks into John's eyes, challenges him to move away. But John doesn't, instead he leans in closer, brings his neck almost in reach of Spike's fangs. That's too much, Spike's hands move with supernatural speed and pull John down, his fangs sink into human flesh again.

John tastes so much like Jack and yet so different, wild and powerful, strong. Spike closes his eyes, too many sensations make him feel like he's drowning. John's hot body moving in and out of his, John's unique scent of arousal mixed with a hint of fear, the taste of his blood exploding on his tongue. The taste of this hot, delicious blood is enough to make Spike come, his body arches to get John deeper inside him, to get his fangs deeper into John. He can smell and taste and feel when John comes too with a muffled cry, just seconds later.

It's so hard to stop drinking, but somehow he manages to tear himself away. His eyes still closed, he starts to laugh. He has done it, he has controlled his demon and stopped drinking. He only realizes that he's said that out loud when cold metal presses to his forehead and John whispers in his ear: "I would have stopped you, I'm not that easy to kill."

Spike slowly turns his head and looks directly in the barrel of one of John's guns. He has no idea when and how John got a hold of it, he's impressed. "Good to know, you're too much fun to kill you." He grins and bares his fangs before he lets his face shift back to human. "And now put that thing away, before I have to take it off you."

John grins back at him. "Really? Think you're faster than I am?" He presses the gun in a bit more.

Spike moves so fast that his movements are almost invisible. One moment he is lying under John, grinning up at him, the next moment he is on top, presses both of John's hand into the mattress above his head while a shot rings in his ears and the bullet hits the wall on the other side of the bed.

"Yes, I'm faster and stronger than anything you've encountered before, especially when I just had some blood as powerful as yours." Spike licks his lips and his eyes flash yellow. "Wanna learn some more about vampires?" He grins down at his captive who tries to keep up a façade of bravado.

"Thought I was the one teaching you something new today." John's voice is a bit shaky, but it's more than obvious that he's turned on by this blatant display of strength. He tries to break free, but Spike pins him down without much of an effort.

"You seem to be a slow learner, you won't get away until I let you." Spike's grin looks diabolic, his eyes are constantly yellow by now even if his face still looks human. In another fast movement, Spike moves away from the bed and pulls John with him. Before the other man can get a chance to move away, Spike has pinned him face first to the nearest wall, one arm held fast on his back. "Do you really want to go? Say so and I'll let you walk out of here. But I think you are enjoying this too much, don't you?" He licks along John's neck, over the wound where he has bitten him before.

John shivers under his touch, but Spike can tell that it is at least as much from arousal as from fear. He keeps licking and bites with his still human teeth, pinches John's nipples with his free hand. John moans and tries to get free at the same time, but he doesn't tell him to stop so Spike continues.

"Did you know that vampires have a really short recovery time?" As if to prove the point he rubs his renewed erection against John's arse. "Hope you're as ready for round two as I am." He slicks his fingers with some of his own come that's still sticking to his stomach and slowly pushes two of them into John. He gets rewarded by a low moan and John's hips push back a bit on his fingers. He moves them faster now, using all the tricks he's learned from Jack, until he can feel John relax in his grip.

John doesn't fight Spike any more and after what seems like an eternity and just a moment at the same time Spike hears his almost inaudible whisper of "Please, fuck me." That's all the invitation he needs to replace his fingers with his cock. There's not nearly enough lube and he knows that he's hurting John, but he can smell how much the pain and being powerless turns the other man on. His fangs drop again, but he just uses them to open skin, get a few droplets of blood here and there. He's enveloped by heat again, the room smells of sex and blood but he's much more in control right now. Both the demon and the man get what they need and he grins when a touch of his fangs makes John shiver in fear, anticipation and lust.

He's moving hard and fast now, one hand still pinning John's arm to his back, the other hand holding John's hip in a bruising grip. John's free hand is moving down to touch his neglected cock and when Spike bites hard into his shoulder he comes with a cry. His blood is flooded with endorphins and adrenaline, his body relaxes even more. All that's holding him up now is Spike's grip, but when Spike comes as well a moment later, they both sink to the floor.

They lay in a tangled heap, sweaty and sticky with semen and blood, but they both don't care. After a while the floor gets uncomfortably cold and Spike forces himself to stand up before he falls asleep right there. He looks down at John, who lazily grins at him and holds up a hand. Spike grins back and helps him to his feet. He nods to the bed. "Let's get some sleep."

Spike knows that John will at some point try to get the upper hand on him again, but right now he doesn't care. He's sated in every sense of the word and it feels bloody brilliant to have someone in bed with him to curl up to. Strange how much he missed this without even realizing it. His eyes refuse to stay open any longer and he falls in a deep, dreamless sleep.


	5. Control

It's been three weeks since the first night he and John spent together and everyone got used to see them snogging and groping at every opportunity. Especially after a good fight Spike could barely keep his hands off John, or was it the other way round? They didn't really care, at least not as long as they could eventually find some privacy in Spike's apartment, John's room at the Hub or wherever to shag each other senseless. It was a glorious mix of violence and sex, they both loved to fight for dominance and as long as it lead to hot sex, they didn't really mind who ended up on top.

Spike still had to hold back of course, he didn't want to cause any real damage, but John could handle a lot more than most humans and he didn't mind to get bitten, the danger of it seemed to turn him on even more. Spike was careful, he didn't want to kill John by accident – but to be honest, it didn't seem to be a problem. The fighting, the sex and especially the blood made his demon rather content and Spike felt more at ease with himself than he had since he got his soul. And he didn't even have to feel bad about the violence, as John so obviously enjoyed it.

Still, there was something that wasn't quite right, but Spike couldn't put his finger on it. There was something about John that kept him from trusting the man completely, but what was it?

Today was quiet, no rift alerts during the day and the evening seemed to be just as quiet. John was somewhere in the archives, helping Ianto to identify alien artefacts. Spike was in the kitchen area of the Hub, warming some blood. His thoughts wandered back to the night when John arrived and their meeting on the roof – and then he knew what had been bugging him! John had known what he was, had called him vamp boy, but he hadn't tried to kill him. And if he knew what vampires were, he would know how to kill them.

Spike downed the last of his blood and started to pace. Was he reading too much into this? Or did John really plot something that required him getting into team Torchwood? Should he talk to Jack? But no, Jack wasn't at the Hub tonight, he was meeting with someone from UNIT for a reason Spike had already forgotten again.

"Sod it." He muttered, he would have to find out himself. And if he was honest, he wasn't much for getting information the subtle way, he would just have to confront John. It wasn't as if he couldn't handle the man in case he tried something stupid, it had its advantages to be a vampire. With a smirk, Spike made his way down to the archives, it was time to get John into his room and get a few answers.

When he found Ianto and John, they were just packing up for the day, which meant Ianto was putting… things… whatever… carefully away and John leaned in the doorframe, giving instructions. Although Ianto had his back to the door, Spike knew that he was rolling his eyes. He would probably do the boy a favour by taking John away.

"John, stop annoying Ianto, I can think of better things to do." Spike had been sneaking up on John and grinned at the startled intake of breath from the other man.

"Yes, please, go. I bet I'll be a lot faster without your 'help', John." Ianto turned around with an exaggerated sigh and a barely suppressed grin.

"But where's the fun in that?" John grinned back before turning to Spike. "Let's go then." He walked past the vampire, heading to his room. Yes, by now John had a real room, not just a bed in a storage room. It wasn't anything special, but it had a big bed with a bedside table, a dresser, a comfortable armchair and a big mirror on one wall. Spike didn't know how John had talked Jack and Ianto into it, but one evening about two weeks ago he'd arrived at the Hub and a grinning John had shown him the room – they'd stayed in that night.

Today though, Spike wanted answers. As soon as they were in the room, he leaned back against the door, arms folded in front of him. That way he was effectively blocking the exit and could have an eye on John in case the man would try to do something stupid. He watched John shrug out of his coat, throwing it carelessly on the chair. The weapon belts followed next before John sat down on the bed to remove his boots. Only then did he seem to notice Spike's posture.

"What got your knickers in a twist, then?" John inquired.

"Oh, I don't know…" Spike tilted his head to one side and stared at John. "How about the fact that you obviously knew about vampires when you first saw me on the roof – calling me 'vamp boy' and all. And someone who knows about vampires will know how to kill them, but you didn't even try. So what are you playing at?"

John chuckled and let himself drop back on the bed, leaning up on his elbows. "I wondered when you'd realize that."

"Can't see what's so funny about it." Spike was pissed off. "I don't like being played."

"And here I thought you enjoyed playing games with me." John grinned and winked.

"Stop fooling around and answer my questions, or do I have to make you talk?" Spike's eyes turned yellow and his face shifted as his demon came to the fore. John's expression turned serious then, but Spike couldn't scent fear on him.

"No need to threaten me, I'll tell you… it's not really a secret." John seemed to think about where to start for a moment. "When I left Cardiff last time, I decided to travel around Earth for a bit – and I didn't just go to different places, but to different times." He lifted his right hand with the vortex manipulator for emphasis. "At some point I ended up in a little town in California, called Sunnydale. Must've been in the late 1970s or so, not that it matters much."

"You've been in Sunnyhell?" Spike asked, surprised. His face had shifted back to human.

"Yes, that's what I just said." John sounded a bit annoyed about getting interrupted. "And as you know, there are a lot of things going bump in the night in that little town. I had lots of fun fighting strange… things… and when some of them had fangs and turned into dust after I cut their heads off I realized that they might be vampires. Not that I had believed in vampires and demons before, but it's kind of hard not to see what's right in front of you. So I looked up a few things that were supposed to work against vamps and tried them out. It's always good to know more than one way to defeat an opponent." He grinned again. "Got bored after a while, especially as some of the nasties seemed to be immune to all my weapons. Didn't want to end up as demon food, so I left again."

John seemed to be telling the truth, no accelerated heart beat, no sweating, no scent of fear at all, but there was something he hadn't told yet.

"That explains how you knew what I am, but not why you didn't try to kill me. After Sunnydale it should be reflex to kill a vampire on sight, or you wouldn't have survived your little trip to the Hellmouth." Spike raised an eyebrow. "So, what's the rest of your story?"

John reached to the drawer of the bedside table, but before he could touch it Spike growled. "What d'you think you're doing there?"

"Calm down, I just need something to write on." John moved his hands away from the drawer again. "You should know that I don't keep weapons in there, you've looked in it often enough when you were looking for lube." He smirked at Spike. "I'll open the drawer now and grab a notebook and pen, if you don't mind." John moved slowly, giving Spike enough time to interrupt him. But the vampire just looked, following every move. As he said, John removed a small notebook from the drawer and a pen, flipped the notebook open and scribbled something on it. Then he tore the paper out, folded it twice and held it towards Spike. "You'll need this in ten days, because you need to give it to me – not exactly me, but the me from before we met on the roof of the library." He rolled his eyes at the look of disbelief from Spike. "Time traveller here, things don't always happen in the right order to me, just take the note and listen, it will all make sense." He paused for a moment. "So, after I left Sunnydale I decided to have a look at Cardiff again, see how Jack was doing. And of course I didn't want to arrive too soon after my last visit, so I arrived exactly ten days from now at Cardiff Castle."

/ John's memories /

__John steps out of the rift and has a look around. He seems to be right beside the keep of Cardiff Castle, it's dark – 11 pm local time according to his wrist strap. Just as he ____wants to walk down the hill he hears voices and decides to hide until he knows who it is. And sure enough, he sees Jack and Ianto followed by a man he doesn't know yet. __

_"___There's been a rift alarm near the keep, we should have a look." Ianto's voice drifts up to him before the three of them turn in his direction. John almost gives himself away in his surprise, the third man almost looks like a younger version of himself – but John has never bleached his hair like this. Before he has a chance to decide whether to make his presence know or try to sneak away several things happen at once.__

__Six men - no, vampires with their ridged foreheads, yellow eyes and fangs – run out of the shadows of the trees and bushes growing near the wall and attack the three men.__

_"___Seems like we found our beasties, Spike." Jack shouts to John's bleached blond doppelganger while he pulls a stake out of his coat and starts to fight their attackers. Ianto is similarly armed and so is Spike, they seem to know what they are dealing with and how to fight vampires. But then this Spike guy changes and John realizes that he's a vampire too. He wants to shout a warning to Jack, but to his surprise Spike starts dusting the attacking vampires and doesn't turn on Jack and Ianto. __

__John stays hidden, watches the fight which is over surprisingly fast. Once the last of their attackers has been dusted, Spike's face shifts back to human. "I'll have a look at the keep, perhaps I can find something that caused the rift alert. I'll call if I need you, you'd better have a look if there are any more vamps hidden."__

_"___Okay, but be careful, don't touch anything you can't identify."__

__"Jack, that's not the first time I'm going to check something out, I'm not stupid enough to touch strange looking objects I know nothing about." He grins and adds "Unlike you…" before sprinting up the hill, moving straight towards John.__

_"___Why exactly do we keep them around again?" Jack grumbles. "And where is John when we finally get something to fight? He'll complain for days that he's missed all the fun." With that he and Ianto walk off towards the section of the wall where the vampires first appeared.__

__John doesn't have time to wonder why he should be here with team Torchwood, Spike has moved with supernatural speed and is almost at his hiding place. Just as John wants to move deeper into the shadows Spike stops. __

_"_I know you are here, John, you told me so yourself. Will you come out of your hiding place, or should I come and get you?" The vampire sounds amused and slightly annoyed. __

__Unfortunately John knows all too well how fast vampires are and decides that it makes no sense to run away. He draws his sword before he steps out of the shadows, even if this vampire seems to know him he doesn't take the risk of facing him unarmed.__

_"___Put that away, will you. If I wanted to kill you I'd have done it without you even noticing that I was sneaking up on you." Spike sighs as John lowers the sword but doesn't put it away. "Right then, I'm supposed to give you this, you're supposed to be there – or you'll mess up the timelines." He holds a folded piece of paper in his hand.__

__John carefully moves closer to take it with his right hand, his left hand still holds the sword. "Y'know, this time travelling is confusing, but we've met several weeks ago, which is in your future. Just have a look at the note you wrote, it'll tell you what to do." Spike frowns as if to figure out if he got this right. He shrugs, turns around and walks toward where Jack and Ianto just emerge from the trees again.__

__John hastily hides in the shadows again, then he unfolds the note. It is in his handwriting and gives him exact coordinates and a time when to be there – in perfect formatting to just enter it into his wrist strap. Be there, it'll be worth it is scribbled underneath in the unique mix of languages from several planets he and Jack invented to send each other coded messages. There's no doubt, this note is from himself – but he's never been good at following instructions, not even his own, so he decides to find out a bit more about this Spike guy first.__

__He waits until he's alone in the Castle again, then he uses his wrist strap to hack into Cardiff's traffic cameras. A quick search for his own facial features brings a lot of ____results. Sometimes it's him, sometimes Spike and sometimes the both of them. Spike seems to have been around for quite some time and he often appears with someone from Torchwood. It looks as if he's been working with them, and surprisingly so is John. He wonders how he convinced Jack and Ianto to let him stay, but he guesses he'll find out soon. Doesn't make sense to waste more time, so he enters the coordinates Spike has given to him into his vortex manipulator and steps into the rift again.__

/ back to the present /

"You know the rest of the story, I arrived on the roof and waited for what would happen next. And then you met me for the first time…" He smirked at Spike who looked a bit confused.

"Don't think I'll ever get used to this time travelling, how on earth do you keep up with it?" Spike shook his head as if to clear his thoughts, shrugged. "Never mind, I'll just take your word for it. This story is way too complicated to be a lie – and you don't smell as if you'd been lying." He grinned suddenly. "Jack will be so disappointed if he finds out that you don't plan a con, he still tries to figure you out."

"Then don't tell him." John grinned back. "Wouldn't dream of disappointing him and I just love to wind him up." He leaned back on the bed again, thumbs hooked in the pockets of his jeans, hands framing his clearly visible erection. "Can we get to the fun part of the evening now?"

Spike raised an eyebrow and deliberately moved his hands down to imitate John's posture. "See something you like? Then come and get it." His eyes met John's, daring, challenging. A few weeks ago he would've been surprised about his willingness to drop the subject and get to the sex. But he had gotten to know John well enough to know that he had told the truth – so why waste time with more talk? His lips raised in an evil smirk.

John had hesitated for a moment, but when Spike smirked he couldn't resist the order any more. He got up from the bed in one fluid motion and walked across the room until they were almost touching. He held Spike's gaze, it was obvious that he wasn't willing to give up control just yet.

Spike curled his tongue. "Now pet, you can either do as I say, or I can force you to do so. Your choice." He smiled a wide, obviously fake, sweet smile that had made many men and demons run away in fear. "Hands behind your head and get on your knees, now!" He commanded in a low, calm voice. A tremor ran through John, but Spike could smell that it wasn't from fear but arousal – with just a tiny bit of fear that made it even better for both of them. To his surprise John followed his order without hesitating, that was new. He didn't even say a word, just looked up at Spike as he gracefully sank to his knees and laced his fingers behind his head. The defiance in his eyes made it clear that he had merely decided to play along, that he wasn't truly submitting - yet. It didn't really matter, not when Spike could feel the heat of John's breath even through his clothes.

Spike slowly opened the button fly on his jeans and without being prompted John's lips parted to take him in. The wet heat made Spike moan and immediately John tried every trick in his book to make Spike lose control – and he knew a lot of tricks. Not ready to give up the power in their game tonight, Spike placed one hand over John's interlaced fingers and the other one under his chin, effectively immobilizing the man. John moaned around him at this display of dominance, the defiance in his eyes was almost completely replaced by want, lust.

The knowledge that he could do whatever he wanted to the other man sent a surge of arousal through Spike, but it was second nature by now to carefully monitor John's breath and heart rate to make sure John was still enjoying their game. Spike pushed all the way in, still surprised about John's obvious lack of a gag reflex, and stayed like that for a moment. When he finally pulled back he could hear a harsh intake of breath, feel John's teeth slightly gracing him, his tongue teasing him just right. He moved his hips faster now, fucking John's mouth, taking his pleasure – and somehow John still managed to tease him with tongue and teeth.

But after a while this wasn't enough, he wanted it all, wanted to fuck and wanted to bite. He loosened his grip on John's head and pulled back. For a moment he enjoyed the sight of John with slightly swollen, wet lips, eyes wide with arousal, erection straining against the confines of his jeans. He was breathing fast, almost too fast, skin flushed, even hotter than usual.

Spike pulled John up with a gentle tuck at the back of his head, leaned in until their bodies touched from chest to toe. He licked once on John's neck, right over his jugular and got rewarded by a sharp intake of breath, a full body shudder, then John tilted his head back to give him better access. Not yet, he reminded himself, biting John's earlobe with blunt teeth and whispered in his ear, voice dark with lust: "Strip, then lay on the bed, on your back, arms above your head. I want to fuck you til you forget your own name."

A shiver ran through John's body again, he leaned in a bit closer, hesitant to break their contact. Just when Spike thought John wouldn't do as he'd been told, would change the game, John stepped back, quickly stripped and walked to the bed. He sent an inviting look over his shoulder before rummaging in the bedside table, retrieving a bottle of lube. Spike realised that John hadn't said a single word so far, that was strange. Still unusually quiet John lay down on the bed, hands over his head just as Spike had ordered. He had crossed his wrists and spread his legs invitingly. John barely broke eye contact with Spike and the unveiled lust he could see in John's eyes made him swallow hard.

Not wasting another second, he quickly stripped as well and walked over to the bed. He knew he looked like a predator, hunting for his prey, and that's how he felt. John's submissive posture appealed to both the demon and the man, he wanted to touch him, taste him, fuck him. With a low growl he lowered himself on top of John, covering him completely, pressing his wrists into the mattress. Cool skin met hot, they both moaned and tried to press even closer.

Spike made sure that John was still looking at him, then he let his demon come to the fore, showing fangs, eyes gleaming gold. He leaned in for a hard, bruising kiss, his fangs cutting John's lip and tongue. The first taste of blood exploded on his tongue, all desire mixed with a bit of fear, it was delicious. When he broke the kiss to give John a chance to breathe his features smoothed back to human again.

"Don't you dare to move unless I tell you to." He whispered in John's ear again. "I'll fuck you, use your body, and you'll just take it. You won't be able to think about anything but me fucking you, and you'll love it. If you do as I say I'll make you come, bite you. But if you don't follow my orders, I'll just use you for my pleasure, make sure you don't come. Did I make myself clear?" He pushed his hips forward once, twice, letting their erections rub against each other between their bodies.

"Yes, Spike." John's voice was hoarse and barely audible, but he relaxed into Spike's hold. Satisfied that John wouldn't move, Spike let go of his wrists and sat up. He quickly applied some lube and thrust two fingers roughly in John's waiting body. He could feel the tension in John's muscles when he fought to hold still, then he relaxed again and allowed Spike to do whatever he wanted. To reward him for his obedience, Spike moved his fingers in and out in short, hard stabs, making sure to hit just the right spot inside. John bit his lip, but he couldn't hold back his moans of pleasure. It didn't take long until John was trembling and murmured "More… please… Spike."

Deciding that he had tortured John long enough, Spike pulled his fingers out. John made a sound that almost sounded like a whimper at the loss, but Spike quickly replaced his fingers with his cock and pushed in with one harsh thrust. He moaned when he slid in the tight heat of John's body and gripped his hips hard enough to leave bruises. "Fuck, yes…" followed by a stream of words in a language Spike didn't understand tumbled over John's lips.

Spike chuckled. "Oh yes, I'm going to fuck you." He barely held back, fucked John hard and fast, he knew the man could take it. John was still uttering words, most of them in strange languages, but Spike didn't need to understand them. He could see and smell how much John liked the sex and the pain, could hear his moans, could feel his body tremble as he came closer and closer to orgasm. Yet he held still, his hands balled into fists, muscles trembling with the effort not to move, to follow Spike's orders "Oh no, not yet, I'm not done with you." He murmured, changed his angle and rhythm to take John back from the edge again.

John's pleas got more urgent but still Spike didn't want to end this. He wanted to keep feeling in control, in control of himself, in control of the body beneath him. But then John tilted his head back as far as possible and whispered "Please" over and over again. Spike's demon rose to the surface and he bent forward, once again gripping John's wrists in one hand. He let his fangs barely graze the skin on John's neck and inhaled deeply. John's pheromones were intoxicating by now and with a growl he sank his teeth in the offered neck. Hot blood flooded his mouth, the taste of lust and fear and pain were almost too much. He could feel John tense, felt wet heat between their bodies, smelled the other man's release. He stopped drinking, thrust once, twice more and with a howl he came as well.

Sated and tired he slumped on top of John, lazily he licked some traces of blood off his neck. He let go of John's wrist, but didn't want to move just yet. Unfortunately he had to, John pushed at his shoulders. "One of us needs to breathe, move over." He sounded surprisingly soft.

With a sigh Spike moved, but he just curled up around John's warm body, refusing to move any further. John pulled the blanket over their bodies and shifted until he was comfortably settled against the vampire. "Just don't get used to me being all submissive, won't happen too often." Spike could hear him grin.

"'S long as you don't pretend you didn't like it." Spike grinned back. "'Sides, I like that I never know how you'll react, makes things more interesting."

"Hmm, might try to find out how to make you follow my orders, then. That'd be something new."

"Good luck with that." Spike's expression got more serious. "Just don't forget that I've a demon in me, it knows – I know – that I'm stronger than you, that you couldn't force me to do anything. You'd better be really convincing if you don't want me to change the game when you don't expect it."

John raised an eyebrow. "Well… I'd better find some vamp proof restraints then." He grinned again. "And I've got an idea where to find them."

"Do me a favour, will you?" Spike mumbled. "Plan all you want, but be quiet. 'M knackered, Jack woke me up at noon, that's in the middle of my night, need some sleep." He pulled the blanket closer and closed his eyes.

The next few days were way too quiet, just minor Rift alerts with nothing much to find. There wasn't even a single Weevil sighting, no strange police reports that required their intervention, nothing. Okay, Ianto and John had triggered some sort of alien weapon in the archives, but John had managed to disarm it before anyone got hurt and the damage to the other artefacts was minimal. They were all getting bored, restless.

Ten days later, Spike had just arrived at the Hub around 8 pm when John mouthed to him "Tonight, Castle." Spike nodded once.

"Still nothing going on?" Spike looked from one bored face to the next. "Obviously not." He sighed and picked up the newspaper someone had left on a table.

"Right, I'm off then, I'll go crazy if I have to stay here any longer." John walked to the exit, waving over his shoulder. "I need a drink."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Jack looked as if he'd want nothing more than to follow John, pulled himself together and turned to the stairs leading to his office. "I'll finish the last of the paperwork then."

"Where's Ianto?" Spike asked, looking around the Hub.

"Picking up Chinese for dinner, should be back soon. And I sent Gwen home, no need for her to stay when we've got nothing to do."

Spike nodded, still browsing the paper. A few minutes later, Ianto was back with food and they all settled on the old sofa in comfortable silence. When they had finished eating, Spike checked his watch – just past 10 pm - and decided it was time to get them out and to the Castle. "You two look as bored as I am, why don't we check out the mysterious disappearance of people around the Castle? Have read about it several times this week, doesn't sound like something for Torchwood, but could be demons or vampires." He looked from Jack to Ianto. "Should be more fun than sitting around and waiting for a Rift alarm."

They didn't need much convincing, they've all been restless. Spike just made sure that they all had stakes with them "just in case" – he didn't want to give away that he already knew about the vampires, but didn't want to get Jack and Ianto hurt either. When they were suitably armed, they made their way to the Castle. Jack tried to contact John, but he didn't answer his com.

"Why does he even have a com, when he doesn't respond." Jack grumbled without any heat in it. Spike shrugged, suppressed a grin, but didn't answer. When they had parked the SUV at the Castle, he convinced Jack to have a look around first, they were early and it was the only way he could think of to stall them for a bit. He couldn't have timed it better, just as they entered the Castle the small Rift monitor Ianto was carrying went off.

"There's been a rift alarm near the keep, we should have a look." Spike turned with them, he knew it was too dark for them to see anything, but he could make out a flash of red and gold. A sound from the opposite direction distracted him, he turned to the noise and saw six vampires charge towards them, all game faced, eyes glowing golden in the dark.

"Seems like we found our beasties, Spike." Jack shouted, grabbing a stake. Spike pulled his own stake out of his duster, made sure that Ianto was prepared to fight as well, then quickly dusted their first attacker. It had been way too quiet during the last few weeks, he craved for a bit of violence, so he moved quickly to the next vamp. They were no match for him, he could have killed them all on his own, but way too soon there was no one left to fight. Only then did he realize that he had shifted to game face, shook his head and forced the demon back.

"I'll have a look at the keep, perhaps I can find something that caused the rift alert. I'll call if I need you, you'd better have a look around if there are any more vamps hidden." Spike glanced towards the keep, trying to find that hint of red and gold again.

"Okay, but be careful, don't touch anything you can't identify." Jack warned him with a grin.

"Jack, that's not the first time I'm going to check something out, I'm not stupid enough to touch strange looking objects I know nothing about." He grinned and added "Unlike you…" before sprinting up the hill, moving straight towards where he had seen John.

Spike could hear Jack mutter under his breath "Why exactly do we keep them around again? And where is John when we finally get something to fight? He'll complain for days that he's missed all the fun." Then the unmistakable sounds of two men moving away from him. Satisfied that they wouldn't pay attention to him any more, he sped up his movement and within seconds he was standing a few feet away from John. He could clearly see the man hiding, despite the dark, cloudy November night.

"I know you are here, John, you told me so yourself. Will you come out of your hiding place, or should I come and get you?" He was amused that John had found out so much about vampires in Sunnydale, but obviously didn't realize how good their night vision was – and a bit annoyed because he still didn't get this whole time travelling. Had he met John on the roof because he would be giving him the note tonight? Or was he giving him the note because they had met? What would happen if he messed this up? His senses focussed on the present again when he heard John move, heard the sword being drawn before he could see the movement, smelled John's fear – mixed with excitement that came always with a good fight.

"Put that away, will you. If I wanted to kill you I'd have done it without you even noticing that I was sneaking up on you." Spike sighed as John lowered the sword but didn't put it away. "Right then, I'm supposed to give you this, you're supposed to be there – or you'll mess up the timelines." He held out the folded note John had given him ten days ago. John carefully took it, his left hand still holding the sword ready. "Y'know, this time travelling is confusing, but we've met several weeks ago, which is in your future. Just have a look at the note you wrote, it'll tell you what to do." Spike frowned, hoping he got it right. Nothing he could do about it anyway, so he shrugged, turned around and walked toward where Jack and Ianto just emerged from the trees again.

There hadn't been any signs of more vampires, just a hideout in the wall with a few old mattresses, but they decided to come back the next night to make sure they had gotten all of them. It wasn't too hard to convince Jack and Ianto that no, he hadn't found anything up there and yes, he was sure about it and yes, he would've been able to scent if there had been someone up there who got away. He even managed to keep a straight face when they came back to the Hub and John made a fuss why they hadn't called him when they were out for some fun.

"Not my fault when you turn your com off." Jack growled, trying to look annoyed, but not able to hide his amusement. "Didn't I tell you he'd complain?"

"And you conveniently forgot that you've got other methods to contact me?" John pointed at his wrist strap with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, it must've slipped my mind." Jack grinned.

The fight went on for a while, Spike and Ianto just stood back and watched with a grin and an occasional eye roll. "Well, that was fun to watch, better than any sitcom. Was just waiting for you to throw things at each other." Spike taunted them when they finally went silent. Ianto chuckled, but wisely kept his mouth shut otherwise.

"Oi, 'm not your entertainment for the night."

"Don't you have anything better to do?"

They both had turned to him and spoke at the same time, just as he knew they'd do. "See, just like an old, married couple on the telly, fighting all the time but as soon as someone comes in between, you join forces and turn on him." He chuckled and quickly ran to the exit as they both went after him. "See you tomorrow." He yelled back over his shoulder before closing the door behind him – just before Jack and John could reach it.

They didn't tell Jack or Ianto about their meeting at the castle, it was so much more fun to know that Jack still tried to figure out what John was up to. And it was still so boringly quiet that they needed all the entertainment they could get.

Spike knew that John was up to something, was keeping something from him, but he couldn't figure out what it was. For the last two days the other man had made sure that Spike didn't come to his room, had found reasons that were obviously just bad excuses. Spike just had raised an eyebrow at those occasions, but hadn't really tried to find out what was going on. He guessed he'd get to know soon enough.

Tonight though, John pulled him close for a demanding kiss as soon as they were back at the Hub. He could feel and smell the arousal and excitement pouring off the man and gave in to those hot, insisting lips and tongue. He let John control the kiss for now, even if part of him wanted to throw the man over his shoulder, carry him to the next best room and fuck him senseless on the nearest available surface. He moaned into the kiss when John pressed even closer, their erections rubbing against each other. The kiss ended as suddenly as it had started, but just as Spike wanted to claim John's lips again, he felt John's breath tickling his ear.

"My room, now," he commanded, letting go of Spike and turning to walk down the corridor – he obviously expected Spike to follow him, didn't even look over his shoulder once to make sure the vampire was there.

Spike raised an eyebrow, but decided to play along for now, so he followed John without further comment. John stopped in front of his room, turned around to Spike. "Take your duster off." John's voice was hard, commanding, his gaze held Spike's, his whole posture demanded that his orders were followed. Spike had to suppress a grin, he had known that John would rise to the bait and would try to make him submit at some point – now he just had to find out how good the man was at this game.

He hesitated just long enough for John to notice, then shrugged and took his duster off. "What now, want me to strip here, give Jack and Ianto a nice show?" He put some challenge in his voice and glanced briefly up to the camera filming this part of the corridor.

John stepped closer, invading his personal space. "No, I want you to go in there and do exactly as I say." He nodded towards the door to his room, then stepped aside to let Spike pass.

Spike just looked at him, tilted his head a bit and smirked. "And why should I do that? Or do you think you can make me?" He taunted, needing to know that John could handle him before he was ready to give up control completely.

"Yes, I can make you do whatever I want." John's hand suddenly held a small taser gun, Spike hadn't even seen him move. "But it is more fun when you do it on your own." He grinned at Spike, looking suddenly a lot more dangerous. As fast as the gun had appeared, it vanished again. "Now, do I have to repeat myself or are you going in?"

Spike was surprised, both at the sudden appearance of the weapon and that John had put it away again. He closed his eyes for a second, took a deep unneeded breath, then opened the door and walked into the room without further hesitation. This promised to be fun. As soon as he entered the room he noticed the chains with attached cuffs hanging from the ceiling and a matching set bolted to the floor. Oh yes, very promising, indeed.

"Put your duster on the bed." John's voice came from behind. "The rest of your clothes as well." Spike heard John follow him into the room and close the door. The scent of arousal and something darker from the other man, combined with the commanding voice made him hurry to comply and soon he was standing in front of the bed, completely naked, his erection almost painful. John dropped his weapon belt near the door and moved closer until he was standing right in front of Spike. "Don't move." The vampire could feel the human's body heat, through his clothes, and they weren't even touching yet. Then there were hands on his body, touching him everywhere, stroking, pinching, caressing, hurting, all at once. Spike balled his hands into fists, he wanted to touch, but he managed to follow John's order and didn't move. Hot lips on his neck, kissing, licking, biting in all the right places. He tilted his head back to give John better access and bit his lower lip to suppress a moan. A shiver ran through his body, it was so hard to hold still, to keep his hands from reaching out.

Just when he thought he couldn't obey the order any more, when it was too much, John stepped back. Spike moaned at the loss of contact, but managed to stay where he was, he didn't want to stop this, wanted to know what else John had planned. His gaze travelled to the chains, they would make it so much easier, would allow him to let go.

And again, John seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, feeling. "I'm going to tie you up now, come here." Without thinking about it, he moved to John's side and lifted his arms. The leather manacles closed around his wrists, then a warm hand tapped his left leg. "Spread your legs, I'll chain them as well. And don't even try, the chains will hold, they are enchanted and vamp proof." John stood right in front of him again and Spike realized that he now was completely at John's mercy. He didn't doubt for a second that the chains would hold him, John was too smart to take any chances, to use regular chains and lie to him. Did he really trust John enough? A bit late to think about it now that he was chained up. He took a deep breath and relaxed, pushed his thoughts aside.

"Nice, very nice…. Now, what am I going to do with you?" John's voice interrupted his thoughts. Spike swallowed nervously under the intense gaze and licked his lips. "Oh no, you don't say a word now, you'll listen to me first." John pressed a finger to Spike's lips. "I will play with you tonight, touch you whenever and wherever I want, hurt you, fuck you, do exactly what I want. But…" He looked directly in Spike's eyes "But if you want me to stop you just have to tell me." John stepped away. "Not that I plan to give you any reason to stop me, I'm sure you'll enjoy this just as much as I do." John smirked at that, glancing down to Spike's erection.

Spike closed his eyes, took a deep breath and relaxed as much as the chains allowed. Apart from Dru had he never given that much control to someone else – and as barmy as his dark princess was, he had always trusted her. A second deep breath. No, he didn't want to end this game, so he opened his eyes, looked at John and nodded.

This seemed to be all John had been waiting for because he stepped close again, touching Spike from head to toe. Hot hands moved over his body to his shoulders, down his back to his hips, the rough fabric of John's jeans rubbed almost painfully against his cock. Soft lips kissed along his neck, suddenly teeth, biting hard right over his jugular. Spike moaned in pleasure – or was it pain? - and tilted his head back in submission.

Then the heat was gone again, John had moved back, stepped around so he was now standing behind Spike. "Don't want this to be over too soon, let's see how you like the toys I bought for you." John's voice was low, seductive now. Spike couldn't see him, but heard him move back to the bed, then the sound of something scraping over the floor. The click of an opening lock, things moving against each other, faint scent of leather – barely detectable through the overwhelming scent of John's pheromones. "There you are." John moved closer again, the sound of something moving fast the only warning before pain exploded on his back.

Spike cried out, more in surprise than anything else. Another whooshing sound, more pain, lower this time. After the first shock the pain went straight to his groin, the thing – flogger, some part of his brain supplied – hitting his back hurt and felt so good at the same time, he wanted more. And he got more, John started to whip his back and arse, hard enough to hurt just right, to bring some of his borrowed blood up to the surface, but never breaking skin. Spike let his head drop, gave himself over to the sensation. Over his own moans and whimpers Spike could hear that John's breath was coming faster now, his heart was beating harder. The scent of sweat was mixed with arousal, his back felt almost hot under the steady blows.

John stopped as suddenly as he had started, Spike could hear the flogger dropping to the floor. Then John pressed against his back, the braiding and buttons of his coat digging painfully in Spike's oversensitive skin. His hands moved over Spike's abdomen, over his chest, hard and possessive, fingers reaching for his nipples, pinching and twisting them.

"I knew you'd like that." John whispered in his ear, warm breath ghosting against his neck. "But I think you'll like even more what I'm going to do next." Spike moaned at the loss of contact when John let go of him. "Shhh, 'm not going away." John's voice was calm and soothing now. The sound of fabric moving on fabric, then something hit the bed with a soft thud. John walked around, stood in front of Spike again, his jacket was gone. He bent down, took off his boots and socks, then retrieved a slender knife from one of the boots. Spike swallowed hard, the knife was obviously very sharp, light glinted on the blade. John moved slowly closer again, holding the knife up for Spike to see. As if Spike would be able to look away, he was mesmerized by the weapon.

"Look at me." John commanded and Spike forced his gaze away from the knife. "I guess you like my idea, do you?" John raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yes, please." Spike's voice was hoarse, almost inaudible.

"Good." John grinned. His right hand cupped Spike's face and Spike leaned into the touch. Then something cold pressed against his ribs and Spike flinched. John chuckled, let go of Spike's face and moved the back of the blade slowly over his chest, following the curve of his ribcage up to his collarbone, then down again. The knife just moved over his skin, a hard, cold presence, but not cutting him. Over his left nipple, then circling around, Spike watched every movement, waited for the pain he knew would come soon, for the blood spilling from his body. But John just kept moving the blade over his body, the dull edge digging into his skin without doing any harm.

"Please… John…" Spike couldn't take any more teasing.

Another chuckle from John, then a sudden flick of his wrist and red vertical line appeared right above Spike's navel. The blade was so sharp, the pain didn't register until the first drop of blood appeared and ran down into his navel. Another cut just below his ribcage made him moan, beg for more. But John stopped, took the knife away from his body. Spike looked up and nearly came right there and then – John looked him straight in the eyes, moved the blade up to his mouth and licked the bit of blood covering it away.

Then the cold steel was back on his skin, counterpointed by a warm, soft hand, both tracing patterns on his skin. Spike lost track of time as the knife kept moving over his body, sometimes cutting, sometimes just pressing against his skin until his torso and arms were covered in tiny cuts, some of them already healed, only visible because of the blood that had trickled out of them before they could close. He hadn't noticed when he had vamped out, but then he bit right through his lip with his fangs, the taste of his own blood filling his mouth. His whole body started to tremble, he felt so good, but he desperately needed release now for his aching cock.

Again, John knew exactly what he needed. The knife clattered to the floor, strong hands moved over his body, grounding him, calming him. Lips – on his neck, over his collarbone, a tongue moving over his right nipple, licking away the blood there. Up again, to his jaw, meeting his lips. John kissed him hard enough to cut himself on Spike's fangs, their blood mixed. They both moaned, then John drew back, moved around until he was pressed against Spike's back again, warm hands never leaving his body.

John's left hand came up to his mouth, two fingers pressing inside, Spike greedily sucked on them. Another hand moved in between their bodies, the sound of a zipper, then the hand gripped his hip and John's cock pressed hard and hot against him. "Want you, now." John's voice was as hoarse as Spike's now, a slight tremble in it the only sign that he was as desperate as Spike.

The fingers were pulled out of his mouth, pressed against his arse, up, inside. It burned, so good, not enough… Spike tried to press back into them, but couldn't move, the chains and John's hand on his hip immobilizing him. He whimpered, almost desperate for release now.

"More…" his voice broke, John had started to move his fingers, in and out, finding just the right spot inside and Spike couldn't do anything but moan helplessly while John prepared him. Then the fingers were gone, but before Spike could protest something bigger pushed inside. He didn't have time to adjust to the intrusion, to the heat inside, John immediately started to move. Hard, fast, painful – perfect. Hands gripped his hips tight enough to bruise, the zipper of John's jeans bit painfully into the still tender skin of his buttocks, a hot mouth moved over his shoulders and neck, kissing, licking biting. Even more heat moving inside, pushing him closer and closer to the brink of orgasm, but not enough to push him over. The room smelled of sex and blood, he heard John's harsh breath, the fast beat of his heart, skin slapping against skin – still it was not enough. Then, teeth, biting hard into his shoulder, breaking skin, John's rhythm faltered, more heat filling him and Spike came with a howl, body tight, pulling at the chains.

John held onto him for a moment, then slowly withdrew. Spike hung limply in the chains, his legs didn't support him any more. Strong hands moved down his legs, removed the manacles from his ankles. John stood up again, right arm around Spike's waist, left hand freeing his wrists. He stumbled, but John held him up, pushed him to the bed. He left, a few moments later he was back and cleaned Spike from the blood drying on his skin. Spike was so tired, his eyes drifted closed. The washcloth was gone, fabric rustled, John slid into bed beside him, pulled the blanket up. Spike burrowed in the heat of the body close to his, then drifted to sleep.

The next few days kept them busy, the Rift obviously wanted to make up for lack of activity by throwing everything at them at once. They spent their days and nights fighting and cleaning, fell in an exhausted sleep whenever there was time for it. Spike didn't go back to his apartment for almost a week, they needed him to keep an eye on the Rift monitors and the computers while they were out during the day. They didn't get enough sleep or food, got hurt way too often, Jack died twice – despite having Spike and John at his side in the fights.

Another Rift alarm, racing to fight whatever had come through this time – and why did it have to be another bunch of violent aliens that decided to shoot first and ask questions later? Couldn't it be something nice for a change? Spike had never thought he might get tired of fighting, but right now he wanted nothing more than a few quiet days, lots of sleep and nothing else… okay, perhaps some lazy sex, he wouldn't say no to that. For now, they were on their way back to the Hub, hoping to get some sleep before the Rift threw something else at them. Fortunately nobody was severely injured, just a few scrapes and bruises. Ianto's suit was a lost cause though.

"Why do I even bother do wear suits, they just get ruined." Ianto mumbled, loud enough for them to hear.

"Because you know how much I like to look at you in a suit." Jack half joked.

"Then you owe me a new one." Ianto yawned, too tired to argue any further.

Back at the Hub, they all stumbled to bed, too tired to undress more than necessary. Spike toed his boots of, dropped his duster and curled up under the blanket on John's bed. A moment later, John slipped under the covers as well and within seconds they were both sound asleep.

Spike woke up, surprisingly well rested, hungry. He stretched, wondering how long he had slept. His movements had woken John, who blinked sleepily at him.

"Hmmm, that's nice, waking up on m' own, no Rift alarm." John mumbled. His hands wandered over to Spike, drifted down his body. With a sigh, Spike pushed them away.

"Not now, 'm starving. Would be a really bad idea to make me lose control when I'm that hungry." Spike protested and rolled out of the bed, away from insistent hands.

With a sigh of his own, John got up as well. "Right, food first." He glanced at his wrist strap. "No wonder we are hungry, we've been asleep for over 20 hours."

Spike was surprised – not that they'd slept for so long, rather that the Rift had let them get that much rest. "Hope everything's back to normal then, got bloody tired of the Rift throwing nasty things at us." He stretched, put his boots on and walked to the small kitchen area of the Hub. One last bag of blood was left in the fridge, he would have to get more – but for now it was enough to take the edge of his hunger, to calm the demon enough to go out without endangering anyone. He heated the blood and gulped it down.

By the time he was done, John had joined him in the kitchen and frowned at the empty fridge and cupboards.

"Seems like I'm not as lucky as you, nothing edible left." John poked the remains of a sandwich carefully with a finger, frowned and closed the fridge again. "I'd better go out and buy something."

"Why don't you bring Chinese for all of us?" Ianto's voice came from the doorway.

"Who am I, your errand boy?" John snapped, not even bothering to turn around.

Spike growled, pushed past Ianto and made his way to the exit. "I'm out of here, need more blood. And if I have to listen to you argue about who's the errand boy for another second, I might just eat the both of you." There was no heat in his voice, he just sounded exasperated.

By now he'd lived in Cardiff for long enough and knew exactly where to go to get blood, human even, at every time of the day. He didn't ask too many questions where the blood came from, he just accepted that it was supposed to be hospital rejects.

On his way to the bar he passed a lot of young people going to a pub or on their way home already – it must be Friday or Saturday, he wasn't exactly sure after the last few days. Not that it mattered much, with Torchwood there wasn't such a thing as a weekend.

When a slightly drunk young man left the group of his friends and walked into a small alley, the demon whispered in Spike's head how easy it would be to follow him, drink his blood, kill him, but Spike wasn't really tempted. He told his demon to shut up and continued to walk to a bar where he could buy bagged blood.

He quickly arrived at a barely visible entrance in a dark alley, nodded to the guy, demon or whatever, guarding the door and entered the bar. It pretty much was the same as Willie's back in Sunnydale, just with a female barkeeper. She looked human, but she wasn't entirely, she had this dark scent Spike associated with magic and demons.

Some stools at the bar were empty, so Spike made his way through the room and sat down. Without asking, the barkeeper put a cup of warm, human blood in front of him, but when she turned around, Spike stopped her.

"I'll need some more, to take with me, what have you got?" he asked.

"How much do you need, just got a new delivery." She looked at him questioningly.

"As much as I can get…" He fished a 50 out of his pocket and handed it to her.

A girl slid on the empty stool on his left and looked him up and down appraisingly. She was human, good looking with long dark hair, wore a tight fitting red shirt and black jeans. Spike smiled at her, then turned back to his fast cooling blood.

"Why pay for this bagged shite, when you could have it for free, still hot and pulsing from a willing body?" The girl leaned over and put a hand over his when he started to raise the mug. He tilted his head and looked at her, then – almost too fast to see – he let his features shift, grabbed her by then neck and pulled her close. To his surprise she barely flinched and immediately relaxed in his hold, baring her neck slightly. He could smell a hint of fear, but more excitement, want, need. Interesting, but not tonight, he didn't want to kill her and he was way too hungry to have much control over the demon once he had tasted fresh blood.

With a shake of his head Spike's face was back to human and he released his hold on her. He raised the mug with almost cold blood, drained it in one go before looking back at her and licking a few drops of blood from his lips. "Not tonight, luv, but I look forward to see you again." He smirked at her, grabbed the bag with his blood that had appeared on the bar and left.

On the way home – yes, he considered the Hub to be home, he was wanted there, not just tolerated, had friends – he realized what had just happened. He had controlled his demon with no effort at all, just pushed it back, even if he was hungry. The girl had practically thrown herself at him and he had managed to turn her down. Finally he seemed to be back in control, could trust himself not to do anything he might regret, could use the demon as an advantage and wasn't its slave any more.

He grinned all the way back to the Hub and even bought Chinese for everyone, he felt great.

A few days later, John started to get restless, Spike could tell that this – Torchwood, fighting the bad guys, even the sex – wasn't enough for him any more. John was irritable, snapped at Jack for no reason, annoyed Ianto even more than usual. On an especially bad day Spike had enough. He grabbed John by the collar of his coat and pushed him into the nearest wall.

"Stop bitching around, if you want to leave, just do it already and stop lashing out at everyone just because you are bored." He spoke in a low, dangerous tone, his face barely an inch from John's. "You're driving me crazy, so get a grip or move on." Spike let go of John, who hadn't moved a muscle so far.

"Come with me, so many places and times you haven't seen yet, we could have so much fun together." John's voice was silky, seductive.

"And there are so many more suns that could turn me into a pile of dust. Thanks, but I'm quite happy here, don't plan to leave any time soon." Spike had no intention to leave, now that he'd finally found a place he could call home.

John opened his mouth to say something, but Spike shut him up with a finger on his lips. "But I've been told you can travel in time, you are more than welcome to check back in a few years, perhaps I've had enough of this planet by then." He grinned, then deliberately turned his back to John, looked at Jack and Ianto who were watching them with surprise. "I'll go back to my place, it's late and I don't think there'll be anything going on tonight. And if there is, just call me. See you tomorrow."

Jack nodded at him, Ianto looked back and forth between Spike and John and lifted an eyebrow, but said nothing. Spike didn't look back on his way to the door, he knew he'd made the right decision even if he hadn't thought before he acted. He had lots of fun with John, true, but he wasn't in love, not this time. They had to stop this now, before John got so bored that he did something stupid, something Jack couldn't ignore – or even something that endangered them all.

When Spike returned to the Hub the next day after sunset, John wasn't there any more, but he had left a note in his room.

"You are right, it's time for me to leave, I'm just not good at being in the same place for too long. I know what else is out there and can't stay away from it. If you ever want to join me, let me know, just use the device I left on your bed, you'll find it when you come home."

Spike had to grin, the time travelling still made his head hurt when he thought too much about it, but he didn't expect anything else from John


End file.
